Shop was a piece of performance art in which, on two separate occasions, I did my usual grocery shop in the city centre with a number of lines of plastic waste draped around my neck.
The plastic waste was a variety of FMCG containers and packaging, along with a number of bin bags, threaded on several lengths of fishing line (also synthetic) which had been bought for the purpose.
The work had initially been conceived as an object. Retaining and cleaning plastics of all kinds entering my single-person, low income household over the oourse of a month was some indication of the metabolism of the capitalist system. The majority of the items was sourced in Waitrose and Partners’ Bath store; like most supermarket operators, the partnership was campaigning to establish its green credentials with the public (‘Partners Agsinst Waste’). A rotary airer, with items pegged to the lines, was considered. In the event, I decided to simply go about my usual business, doing my grocery shopping with the waste in tow. On one occasion, my former partner happened upon me as I made my way back home, and took a still photograph or two, one of which is shown here.
The work met with a mixed reception with some members of the public immediately recognising the theme, and some reacting more negatively. Unsurprisingly, local campaigners were enthusiastic about the piece and the photographs circulated amongst them. A partner at the store said it had been the talk of the staffroom for a time.
jonathan oates.net 