An art student who has had bed bugs is doing a project related to her experience. And she would like you to participate!

Dannon writes:

I’m an undergraduate art student and former (I hope) bed bug victim living in Chicago. Dealing with the bugs in my apartment this fall was a fairly traumatic experience, as I’m sure you and your readers will agree. I’m currently working on a project that I’d like to share with the Bedbugger community. The bedbug infestation brought on feelings of shame for me–though I now realize many suffer in the same way, I avoided telling anyone outside my family for fear of judgment and ridicule. I’m really fascinating by the community that has developed on your blog. Though you operate anonymously, there’s a feeling of camaraderie, which must help many get through the hard times.

I’m interested in recreating, or at least echoing, those emotions in the real world. Inspired in part by old hobo symbols, I’ve screen-printed an image of a bed bug on adhesive labels that I’ve used to tag the exterior wall of my building in the pattern of my first cluster of bed bug bites. I hope this will act as both a warning and a sign of solidarity for others who recognize the bug. Ideally, I’d like to send out stickers to fellow Bedbuggers who would then tag their buildings as well, even for just a few days, and document the process. As bedbugs get more press, I hope recognition of the problem will remove some of the shame, and I hope my project helps in some small, anonymous way. A side note: the stickers are standard mailing labels, so they will not be permanent or cause damage to the building.

Some more specifics on documentation: I’d like any participants who are willing to document the process in photo or video. The most important part is a close-up of the arrangement of stickers on the wall, but images/footage of people putting them up would also be appreciated. You don’t need to show your face or any identifying characteristics of your building. I will be including the documentation with the final presentation of my project and hope to eventually create a web site. I’d like to identify any documentation I receive by city and Bedbugger username, but I can leave off the name if necessary.

Would you be interested in either posting my project on the blog or somewhere in the forum where it would get the attention of readers. Bedbugger.com is the best place I could think of to get the word out to to my fellow bedbug victims. My Bedbugger username is Dannon, if you need the information. I’m based in Chicago, but I’m willing to mail stickers anywhere in the continental U.S.

If any readers are interested in participating, please email me at d [dot] nafis [AT] gmail [DOT] com and include your Bedbugger username (optional), your city of residence (include neighborhood or borough if it applies), your address and how many sheets of stickers you would like (they come 6/sheet). I promise I won’t give away your address or use it for anything unsavory, but if you are really hesitant to give out your address, I can email you a pdf of my original model for you to print out yourself, though this won’t look quite the same as the stickers featured in my photos.

If you are curious about other projects created for this class, please check out our flickr site.

Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

The photos in this post show Dannon with her bed bug stickers.

Remember, to get involved or find out more, email Dannon at the provided email address.

But it would also be great to hear in the comments who’s planning to do this! If anyone wants to share photos with us too, they would be welcomed.

Dannon, thanks for inviting us to be involved.  Good luck, and we look forward to seeing the results of this intriguing project. It will no doubt raise awareness of the bed bug issue, and that is always good.

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• Russian, Chinese, Spanish fact sheets
• bed bug registries

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Artist Justin Gignac seals up NYC garbage in a solid, sealed, leakproof, see-through container. Read more about it here. You can buy one of his works for $50. It appears to be bed bug-proof. Heck, it may even have bed bugs inside. I’d pay for one of those!

Perhaps some of that stuff you just tossed out might end up in here?

Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader for the tip.

• Why we need a massive public education campaign about bed bugs (reason #327)
• FAQ: How do I prepare for pest control treatment? Should I put everything in bags?
• The Bed Bug of the Future
• Behold, friends, an animated bed bug comic

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“This is an all-embracing examination of our need to sleep. . . . The very practical logistics of sleeping are also tackled: bedbugs and the luxury of a bed to oneself.” Bed bugs figure in exhibit on sleep at medical-themed-art centre in London.

Cincinnati YWCA Women’s Emergency Shelter has bed bugs, according to Porkopolis

“Now only new clothing can be accepted for donation, and all personal belongings of residents must be stored in large plastic bins. They’re also looking at replacing the sturdy, familiar wooden bunk beds with metal ones to help reduce infestations.”

RealTravel - Hotel Paradiso! | Bargara Travel Blog | Bargara Travel Reviews

Travel blogger claims Bargara, Queensland hostel was bedbugged, and more: “There were rats, mice, possums, bed-bugs, and one morning a kitchen full of maggots. gross. there were curious looking stains on the carpets, especially in our bedroom and there was possum s–t on our floor.”

Bed bugs, or incontinent possums: which is worse?  I’ll take the possums any day, mate.

• Bed bug Helloise: a nice, reasonably-priced white metal bed frame with no wooden slats
• More on bed bugs at the Montana Rescue Mission in Billings
• Spring break bed bug warnings!
• Bed bug news round-up: South Jersey apartment complex; Charlotte, North Carolina Salvation Army shelter

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Note: the (awesome!) artist, kraystone, wishes to remind everyone that bed bugs are very hard to combat and are best left to PCOs.

As long as there are artists, we are safe!

Thank you, kraystone!

• Craigslist Clinton Hill apartment ad, “must tolerate bed bugs”
• When I say the title of the blog, it makes me feel like Sean Connery
• Bed bugs and marketing (again)
• Itchy the Bed Bug: an Olympic Mascot for Vancouver

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I like it. And as a bonus, it’s surprisingly informative. (I say “surprisingly,” since usually bed bug songs don’t contain any actual bed bug information.)

The lyrics include the following:

I got bedbugs
in my bedroom
sleepin’ in my bed

I’m in the kitchen
with my guitar
wishin’ they were dead

the computer
told me
they chase CO2

I’m breathing
when I’m sleeping
there’s nothing I can do

(Music and lyrics, John Rolston.)

Well, nothing you can do except get a good pest control operator to come back every 2 weeks until they’re gone. Don’t wait to schedule that appointment!

Click to listen to the mp3.

• Songs for Bedbuggers
• Bedbugs!!! wins theater contest
• Do not watch this if you have an active bed bug infestation
• Let’s get into that holiday spirit

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Check it out.

• Bed bugs not so nice either
• Blip.tv: Bed Bugs are not dust mites, or cute little kiddies
• Bed bug postage stamps!
• more from Pennsylvania

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No bugs

Originally uploaded by SReed99342.

• Parisian Bed Bug Art?
• bed bug-infested trash on flickr
• more bed bug-infested trash on flickr
• Reader Angie’s bed bug photos

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This, however, was another story, the known universe. The blogger’s friend had bed bugs:

She changed apartments since the last time I saw her, too. The previous one having been infested with bedbugs. “They were everywhere. Falling down from the ceiling, even. I started having these phantom bug attacks even when I went outside.”

When the exterminator came to fumigate, he told her, “Listen: don’t tell your landlord I told you this, but this isn’t the first time I’ve fumigated this place. There’s a real problem here. Between you and me, I think you should move.”

The next day (she) checked craigslist, found a listing and jumped ship immediately.

I was touched by the PCO’s advice to this sufferer. I wonder how often this happens. I know PCOs can’t normally do this without losing the landlords as customers, but I wish they would.

Oh, and the blogger’s friend moved by clever means: she moved during a cold spell and left everything outside in freezing weather en route. I guess your chances for that have passed, New Yorkers, for 2007. Now you’ll need to wait for a week of 104 degree heat and leave that aluminum U-Haul truck baking for a week. In a very sunny spot. And hope it reaches 140 F for more than four hours, and kills them.

I’m waiting for the drive-in-and-park frozen meat locker we can rent for a week while moving. Any investors for that idea?

• Comedian moves into NJ Ikea store
• 80% of Single Room Occupancy units in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are infested with bed bugs; also Rensselaer Polytechnic’s dorms
• More from Edmonton bed bug evictions case
• bad news: APictureofMe’s Caryn’s got bed bugs, again

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I note, once more, that the descriptions in TV news reports and news articles are getting better. We no longer see as many articles which say people should throw their mattresses away; this reporter is wise to bed bugs crawling on pipes between rooms. The knowledge is spreading, though perhaps not yet as fast as the bed bugs.

On the other hand, Preston Today Business, from Lanchashire (UK), demonstrates that some people still confuse dust mites with bed bugs. NYC’s own NY1.com had a video reporting on the City Council Hearing on Bed Bugs last fall which made the same mistake, talking about bed bugs with a huge blow-up photo of a dust mite. People, we only wish we had dust mites, around here!

And, finally, here’s a warning from a by-gone age:

• Bed bugs. Are. Not. Dust Mites.
• Arctic Monkeys bitten by bed bugs
• Bed bugs also causing havoc in England & Northern Ireland: university residence, hospital staff residence, possibly a school, infested
• bedbugs in Denver

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Is anybody thinking of taking up scrap-booking? Here’s a lovely set of papers, stickers and ribbons on the bed bug theme. I’m kidding, of course: if you want to make a memento of your bed bug trauma, do it online! Who needs more stuff? I did find it slightly humorous that the “bed bugs” kit was going for half price. Could this be because people are starting to hear that bed bugs are back, and they are not cute like the ladybugs and butterflies pictured?

(Here we linked to the product described, which either sold out or suddenly became “unpopular.”)

• bed bugs: not fun anymore!
• FAQ: I am not in the US. Can you tell me where to buy XL ziplocs, or what mattress covers are called in my country?
• Presidential Towers sold, with free bed bugs! Doctors and bedbugs (again)
• Company reports bed bug bite photos their most searched-for medical image in 2007

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