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Combination Blue (marine plastics and text)
Steve McPherson
The cover of Pushing Out the Boat Issue 8 was selected from three similar
combination pieces (in red; blue; white+orange) submitted by Steve McPherson, an
artist and lecturer who lives on the North Kent coast; Steve, who uses found marine
plastic in his artworks, tells us:
‘On trips to Scotland and the Shetland Isles (where I completed a 3-month artist-in-residence),
the influence of the sea, and coast are ever present. I have spent many hours exploring
the beaches on my visits and unfortunately found that many were suffering from the
plight of human activities. I was recently approached by the East Grampian Coastal
Partnership (EGCP) to write an article on my beachcombing process and art works,
for their forthcoming newsletter. This is in a bid to raise awareness of the environmental
impact of marine litter, also to encourage other activities at the beach.’
The pieces Steve submitted use the very objects discussed, while his accompanying
text explains and gives each item an identity and history. This taxonomy/text, preceded
by the artist's supporting statement, follow:
‘Each combination piece becomes a wunderkrammer, whose ambiguous and disparate
beached and bleached objects form a whole that borrows from the devices and aesthetics
of museology. With some of the works, a present relative text becomes a key to the
artefacts and describes a possible history of each item, which may or may not be
true. These works aim to challenge and make comment on the potential value of the
obsolete items, activating memories, histories and imagination to challenge the
viewer's system of belief and questioning, upon that which is anomalous but rich
with “facts”.’
Taxonomies (fragmentary mix): — part of a container of soothing cream
— part of a coat hanger from the cabin — part of a stirrer that mixed
3 sugars — part of a cocktail stirrer used once and left on the tray —
a fragment of a float that's net is still lost — a fragment of a lid from
a bottle that had ‘irritant’ printed on its side — a fragment
of the stick of a sweet lolly savoured and enjoyed — the spoon whose contents
was spat out, quickly — part of a bottle that said ‘warning’ on
the label — a fragment of the nose cone of a firework that screeched —
an unusually black tiddly-wink that was his favourite — the broken head of
a razor that's blade had rusted away — part of the window frame of a car that
was abandoned for insurance purposes — a piece of a cable tie cut-off with
pincers and thrown overboard — part of a container that held his ratchet set
— a component of the inner workings of a tape cassette player — a clasp
for a bag that she swung around her head — part of a clasp that flung from
the bag that was swung around the head — lost — a cocktail stick that
sat in his mouth throughout the conversation — part of a battery which leaked,
and spoilt the bead clothes — a component of the battery that powered the
car — bead from a necklace worn once — part of a toy makeup compact
that turned her into a lady — a piece of a float lost due to negligence —
a fragment of a float that had been in use for 7 years — part of the container
for a sweet that was kept in her pocket all day — a fragment of an alien craft
that crashed into the moon — a pendant that had no monetary value but meant
something to her — part of a battery that was used in more than one appliance
— a BB pellet bought form the joke shop with 499 others — a piece of
the float that was used to dig with — part of a powder compact that your Nan
bought — a fragment of a picnic cup used for either tea or squash —
the Smartie lid that popped from the stamp — a component of a construction
toy that helped make a crane — the jewel from a tiara for their special princess
— a building brick used for the blue castle — a lolly stick sticky from
artificial strawberry flavourings — a box for a set of mini screwdrivers that
fell apart on their first screw — the broken rim from toy spectacles that
turned him posh — part of a mesh container used to catch creatures —
part of the wall of a container that held his lunch — the clip from a pen
that held it safe to his chest — a fragment of a razor blade container from
the bottom of his old wash bag — the lid of a makeup compact she got free
with her teen magazine — a paper clip that had sufficed as a book mark, up
until now — part of the handle of a razor he used only once — part of
a pen he forgot to replace the ink for — part of a razor washed 15 times in
one shave — a segment of a lid of a pen used to circle the flats — a
piece of a box that had all the cables in — a fragment of a jar which held
moisturising cream for his hands — a piece of the coat hanger he cut through
the air with — a part of the screw cap from a jar that held small tacks in
— a section of the battery used to power his tank — a segment of a lid
of the pen used to write her shopping list — part of a reel of fishing line
that was used without a rod — the top of a square battery, one of a pair used
to power a boat — a bread tag that held the loaf in, next to the marg and
marmite — the bread tag that lied about the date — the stirrer from
the café with the buckets and spades outside — the handle of a spoon
that carried the colonel 4.5 miles — the head of a stirrer that mixed the
instant coffee — part of a reel that one long firstaid plaster was coiled
around — half a bead from a necklace bought in Spain — part of the box
that sat on the prom for the best part of 5 weeks — part of a spoon that she
eat her trifle with — the spoon that he tried to balance on her nose —
part of the plunger from a syringe used for legit purposes — the end of a
cocktail stick that came in a packet of 100 — the handle from a knife that
was used by the commando killer — part of the popper to the horrible rain
mac he was made to wear — the handle to a toy tea cup that teddy drank out
of and in which the tea was far too hot — the head of a fork used in the café
just before it was closing for the day — the broken bottle cap which had been
used to make the eyes of a giant's face — part of a sweet container thrown
at the sea defences — part of a reel of fishing line which snapped just at
the wrong moment — a stirrer that wrote ‘Fuck you!’ on the glass
— a sliding cap from a container of air pellets, emptied quickly and disappointingly
— the stick to a sticky lollipop that got stuck to her hair
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