Debris Improvisations

Debris Improvisations is a suite of improvisational assemblages exploring ways of limiting waste, through perpetual reconfiguration of fragile and fugitive materials. Previous works were dismantled and the reclaimed materials reimagined/reconfigured through a process of improvisation. Conceptually the re-contextualisation of artwork deemed waste was explored in new works assembled from materials gathered from artworks at the point of their disposal.

My work uses salvaged vinyl, plastic, paper, cardboard and found objects assembled temporarily with adhesive tape. The securing of elements with tape is an expressive aesthetic within my work referring to uncertainty, instability, and the capacity for things to shift rapidly. The works are often destroyed following exhibition, either at my own hand or simply through their own deterioration over time. This is partly the consequence of using materials that are themselves archivally unstable. The inherent paradox in working with salvaged waste is that as my reliance on reclaimed plastics, vinyl and tape has increased, I have become aware that I only temporarily halt the flow of these plastics into landfill. Through this experimentation I embedded processes of dismantling, sorting and reconfiguration into the perpetual creation of new works that can simultaneously emphasise the provisionality of unstable materials, minimise waste and redirect the deterioration and subsequent disposal of my work to landfill.