WASTE. WANT.
The more stuff we have the happier we become. This is basic tenet of consumerism. However, the more stuff we have, the more waste we create: we want a new TV, so we throw out the old one; the kids want different toys, so we discard the old ones; the couch is outdated, so we upgrade; that exercise bike was never used, so ditch it; and so on.
This consumer cycle is regularly played out in suburbs across Australia. And it’s brought to life visually in the form of regular ‘council clean-ups’ that allow people to offload their unwanted possessions, leaving them piled up on sidewalks to be collected. Some items are saved by canny passers-by, but most ends up in landfill.
These unintentional, seemingly mundane still lifes are roadside exhibits of consumerism that also reveal insights into the residents, and society as a whole – what’s deemed unfashionable, what’s obsolete, out of love, worn out, outgrown, gimmicky, never used or simply past our societal use-by date. Within each pile there are hidden stories, small windows into peoples’ lives left out on the street. I wanted to explore these layers and the contrasting stories, textures, shapes, colours and forms, constructing visual interplays and ‘layouts’ to create a photographic journey through the excesses of consumerism.
