Ebay Longing is a project by LA-based artist Angie Waller that looks at collectible objects from “forbidden” countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. The idea is that travelogues of objects can be collected and bid for on sites like Ebay despite the bidder never having gone there. These “fake” momentos are used to increase social profiles and rank among the individuals who collect them. The project is split into two sections:

“Bazaar of the forbidden” is a graphical index that composes a narrative from online democratic market forces. “Battlefield bibelot” composes online postcards from eBay auction photos juxtaposed with geographic and social descriptions of the Middle East from soldiers, their wives, embedded journalists, Baghdad bloggers, and more.