Phoebe Washburn's work explores generative systems based on absurd patterns of production. In Tickle the Shitstem, Washburn has developed a system/environment in which production and waste are equally important. The Shitstem generates its own products along with the inevitable byproducts or waste, and at times, there is little or no distinction between the two. The installation simply keeps churning, producing and hemorrhaging cyclically unless it is interrupted by a failure. Products of Tickle the Shitstem include beverages, pencils, colored urchins and t-shirts.

Phoebe Washburn was born in 1973 and received a MFA from the School of Visual Arts. Washburn has had solo exhibitions at Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia and the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Her work was featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial and has been included in exhibitions at Kunsthalle St Gallen, Switzerland; PS1, Queens, NY; The Kemper Museum, Kansas City, MO and the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC.