A trip to the transfer station can be a chore, an outing, or simply a relief, as that old couch or collection of trash bags disappears over the edge and into the compactor chute below the tipping floor; but what happens after we pay our fee and leave? Fascinated by the strata of earth created at landfills, Shoreline Transfer and Recycling Station artist Carol DePelecyn made repeated visits to the Cedar Hills Landfill with photographer Steve McGehee, where waste from local transfer stations ends up and is compressed into landforms on a vast scale.

Mount Rainier, perhaps the most iconic symbol of the region’s natural beauty, overlooks this mountain of garbage in Terra Firma, McGehee’s original photograph of the landfill that is installed as a billboard above the tipping floor. Waiting in line for a turn at the tipping floor the visitor experiences the sound installation ReTire as it emanates from within recycled truck tires, once used on scraper trucks that level the landfill. Dale Stammen, sound artist, collaborated with DePelecyn on the sound element for ReTire. He captured natural and man-made sounds in the field, edited compositions and created the programming for the rich and changeable soundscape the visitor experiences while waiting to drive into the transfer station. Triggered by the presence of the visitor, the variable sound element speaks to the great beauty of the environment and the need to be mindful of what we throw away and how that waste is disposed of. Shoreline Transfer and Recycling Station is the only Platinum LEEDS certified industrial building in the country, and DePelecyn’s artwork for the facility reflects recycling, conservation and thoughtful action.