For the past several years, Christopher Shores has been walking the streets of New York City, picking up detritus of all kinds, including rusty nails, razorblades, spark plugs, discarded electronic equipment and shattered auto glass. All of these objects have now found permanent homes inside individual bars of clear, pure glycerin soap that the artist calls “street soaps.” Each unique piece gives a sense of time and place, as each box includes information indicating the exact time and location where the object within was found. In his travels, Shores has become both an aimless city wanderer and a modern urban archaeologist, uncovering clues about how we live by examining the things we leave behind. In a small way, he also helps clean the streets of the city, giving a newfound value to the trash he collects. The soaps’ functionality is limited, however. Though they could cleanse your hands, they are ultimately dirty—and even dangerous—to use. Like bugs frozen in amber, these pieces of garbage are records of time and place, and invite us to look at them in a new way.