A Rubbish Surprise in Felixstowe

Well look who I bumped into today on a family visit to Felixstowe.

We'd just started walking along the promenade and no sooner had we arrived but I spotted my friend Fran Crowe, a Suffolk artist who was setting up her exhibition in one of the beach huts on the sea front.

I met Fran last year after going to see her exhibition Walking to save some sea and interviewed her for the blog a few months later. Since then, we've met up on several occasions for some rubbish chats, so it was really good to bump into her today.

Her mini-exhibition in the beach hut is called Cast Away and is part of Felixstowe's Felixstroll event, which uses the concept of art to encourage residents and visitors to rediscover the coastline while admiring the artwork and taking part in events as they stroll between Languard Point and Felixstowe Ferry.

The aim of Fran's work is to highlight the issue of litter that finds its way onto the beach, inviting visitors to take direct action during their walk and help keep the beaches clean. She is encouraging people to pick up litter that they find and add them to a rainbow picture and other images that she is creating in the small area in front of the beach hut. If people don't want to part with their findings, they can package them up and take them home as a souvenir of Felixstowe. There are also alternative souvenirs available at the beach hut.

Following Fran's advice we decided to take part in the Felixstroll event and walked three miles along the coast to Felixstowe Ferry, discovering places that we'd never visited before in our six years in Suffolk. It's given a whole new insight into what the resort has to offer, passing beautiful scenery along the way.

When we arrived at the more rural setting of Felixstowe Ferry, I couldn't resist dropping in at The Caravan Gallery, which is a travelling photographic exhibition, all neatly packed into .... a caravan...! It's most definitely a portrait of Great Britain with a difference, totally perceptive and thoroughly entertaining and was well worth the walk.

However, after a three mile stretch that took as almost as many hours at a childlike pace, we couldn't face the walk back so hopped on the free shuttle bus back into town, where we dropped off an item of beach rubbish into Fran's evolving exhibition.

The piece of "rubbish"we found is the multi-coloured item that you see us holding in the photo, a peculiar looking thing that possibly resembles a lost dog-toy, which was made out of an old juggling ball and old pieces of fabric.

Somehow, I think Fran might have a good use for it instead of it floating out to sea when the tide comes in.

The Felixstroll was a real fun event, which continues over the weekend. If you're in the vicinity tomorrow, it's well worth popping into the resort for a stroll along the promenade with a difference. Just remember to say hello to Fran. For now, I'll leave you with some of the other sights we spotted today.

_______________________________________________________

For more information about Fran's excellent work, which can't help but get you thinking about human impact on the environment, visit www.flyintheface.com.

_______________________________________________________
Updated with extra photos 4/7/09

Don't Bin It - Fran it!

If you were waiting in anticipation of today's news, I am so sorry to have kept you hanging around. It's just that after I cleaned the floors, made some cookies and popped the teapot on the table, my guest of honour arrived and for the rest of the day we both talked rubbish.

T'was a good job Cockney songsters Chas 'n' Dave weren't listening in, otherwise they may have been tempted to change their lyrics.

Yup-yup-rubbish rubbish. Yup-yup-rubbish rubbish

You see, my guest wasn't just anybody. It was my new friend Fran who'd popped over to pick up my booty of unrecyclable odds and single sods as well as a whole stash of broken clutter, that unless rescued by Fran could have easily ended in landfill, including the remnants of my smashed teapot featured at the top of this post.

Here she is pulling out stuff from my special bin-bag...



And here are the contents arranged beautifully on my coffee table...



Look at that gorgeous range of almost useless clutter, a fascinating collection of broken hair clips, netbags, solidified paint, broken scissors, vitamin blister packs, odd slippers, expired marker pens, a bashed phone and all sorts of broken bits of toys. There's even Mrs G's plastic inner from her roll of sellotape in there somewhere.

Now it might seem bizarre to hand over a bag of rubbish to an innocent looking friend and even more peculiar to be handing over Mrs G's rubbish too.

But then Fran is no ordinary friend. She's in fact an artist and no ordinary artist at that. In truth she's a real rubbish artist...hmm - perhaps that would sound better if I said she's an artist who is interested in rubbish. And if you've been following the blog for some time, you might even remember that I interviewed her about her fascinating work, back in July

Anyway, before I get lost in my Ronnie Corbetts or indeed my Harry Hills, meandering on a mile long thread and losing you at the next turning in the road, it's suffice to say that being an artist who is interested in rubbish, my special mission over the last few months has been to collect lots of landfill-destined trash for Fran to put to great use in her next exhibition, which is coming up soon.

Cleverly titled Life Savings: The Art of Recyling, the installation will be on show at New Cut Arts, in Halesworth, Suffolk, running from 10th February to 14th March. If you are in the area do pop along. You can find out more about Fran's fabulous work, which profiles a whole range of major environmental issues at her website www.flyintheface.com.

Fran's visit today really couldn't have come at a better time. By sheer coincidence and great timing, meeting up with her today marks the start of a week-long celebration in my zero waste journey.

It was indeed a year ago today I was pondering the daunting nature of taking part in a Zero Waste Week.

Feeling out of my depth at the task in hand was bad enough not to mention the reality of becoming a community champion in the local council's publications.

So I set up a blog. And after many umms and ahhs over the name, The Rubbish Diet was born along with a whole network of friends to go with it, who came to the rescue to help me keep on track as I stepped up to the challenge of slimming my family's bin.

And blinkey blimey it worked!

I never believed it would.

But it did.

And you know the rest.

And as you know, I feel a whole new person because of it, on a path to living lighter and with more consideration for our planet, its people and our resources. I'd never have guessed so much would have arisen from slimming my bin.

So in celebration, my writing this week will be dedicated to looking at the past, the present and the future, with a few little surprises thrown in.

And I would dearly love you to be part of it, whether you're new to the blog or have accompanied me all along the way.

You see, the journey to zero waste is not just about me. It's about you too, no matter who you are, where you come from or why you find yourself here. It's about us all pulling together to make the small changes that will create the big difference in the long run.

Readers of this blog have inspired me to keep going over the last twelve months, as have my own visits to other blogs or websites where I find like-minded people tackling the same issues in their own way.

So with the actual anniversary of this blog being this Wednesday, 21st January, I would like to celebrate in a very special way, with your participation.

Whether you're a regular commentator or a lurker, I would love you to email your words of wisdom, to inspire others who are just finding their feet in their journey to reduce waste. It would be great if you could send a photo to accompany your message too. But if you're shy, just a name will do.

The messages will be compiled into one huge blogpost on Wednesday to celebrate what has been achieved over the last twelve months.

Go on, I'd love you to participate. Almost everyone's got something to say about rubbish and waste. If you can join in, just email your words of encouragement to karen@therubbishdiet.co.uk. Please note: all material will need to be with me by tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon (6pm GMT).

Well it's been real fun but long day. I really have got no idea what I will write about in the morning. I've just been too busy to think.

I think what I need now is to sit down with a nice glass of wine and have a real good ponder.

Yes that's it. That's a real good plan, especially as you know I'll recycle the bottle.

So night-night all. Sleep tight. And don't let the nightmares about the world's recycling bite.

Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow. x



________________________________________________________

Talking Rubbish with Fran Crowe

Some of you may remember my excitement over the wonderful and thought-provoking exhibition that I visited at Landguard Fort in May, called Walking to Save Some Sea. If you missed it, click here to read my review .



Well, here's some more excitement because I have managed to catch up with the Suffolk artist behind it, a lovely lady called Fran Crowe.



After a couple of busy months, we finally managed to meet last week in the picturesque setting of Ipswich marina. And for two hours we chatted like a pair of old friends who hadn't seen each other for years. You would never have guessed we were strangers.

And yes, we talked about rubbish and as you can see for yourself, I couldn't wait to ask Fran about her art, her inspiration and her recycling and I am pleased that she was able to oblige.

You address a number of pertinent issues through your art. What inspired you to start expressing yourself in this way?

Whilst studying for my degree (which I completed in 2006), it became clear to me that I did not want to be the kind of artist that creates beautiful things. Lots of artists already do this really well and in any case I think nature does a much better job of beauty than I possibly could. Rather, I wanted my art to ‘create waves’ and to provoke people to think differently about the world - but in an engaging and often playful way. I am concerned about the damage our lifestyles are doing to the world and am really interested in the ways that artists might use their creativity in response to the massive problems that we are facing as a result of this.


If you could pick one project, which has been the most significant and why?

Definitely the marine litter project ‘Walking to save some sea’. As well as being my most ambitious project to date (it took me a year of walking on the beach just to collect my 46,000 pieces of litter), I was also able through this project to connect something local and that I could see for myself with a global problem about the state of our oceans, caused by our runaway consumption (and careless disposal) of plastics, in particular. Also I really love just being by the sea, and collecting, so it was good to do too.


I loved the Walking To Save Some Sea exhibition, could you tell me more about the project?

I started the project having no idea what I would do with all the rubbish I collected but sure I would come up with something! I was then really lucky to be awarded a bursary and solo exhibition by Babylon Gallery in Ely which was a great opportunity to do something really creative with the rubbish. Initially I was just going to dump it in one big pile iin the gallery but realised this might shock people but would not give me the chance to engage people with the issues. So I spent hours sorting the rubbish - by colour, by material and by use (eg paintbrushes, pens and pencils etc). I used these to create huge floor displays as well as a museum-style area of ‘collections’. I really wanted to bring my exhibition back to the Suffolk coast and was lucky to secure Landguard Fort for this. The fort is a stunning place with amazing huge rooms and lots of character - and I was more-or-less given the run of it, an artist’s dream! I was able to extend the exhibition and create some really eye-catching installations.


How long did it take to set up at Landguard Fort?

It took months of preparation and the actual installation took several days. I had so much choice of space and a third of a tonne of rubbish to create things with. It took a whole day to take down too... I was lucky that the Suffolk Coastal refuse collection service agreed to deliver all my rubbish to the fort too which was rather appropriate.



So where do you store the items you collected?

I am lucky to have an outbuilding which is meant to be my studio. Unfortunately it is mostly filled with rubbish and other stuff I can’t bear to throw away these days. It’s hard to find space to work!


You were recently featured on Radio 4's MidWeek show. What was that like?

I thought I would be really nervous and was terrified I’d say something stupid but the other guests really made me feel quite at ease. It was a great experience!


What impact has your work had on your home-life in terms of managing your household waste?

We have always recycled as much as we can but my research into the impact of plastics, in particular, has made me quite obsessive about trying to recycle everything I can. Even then, I think some things - although useless or broken - are too good to send for recycling so I am saving these and thinking about how I might use them for a future project... I also try really hard to avoid products with unnecessary packaging but it is very hard. Most of all I am trying to cut down on inappropriate use of plastics - you certainly won’t find me buying any more ‘disposable’ cups and things for barbecues and picnics.


What is the hardest thing to recycle at home?

I am particularly fed up with cellophane type wrappers that you get on so many products and which you can’t recycle. I bought a lampshade this week and it was wrapped in yards of the stuff. I try to avoid crisps and biscuits bars which are wrapped in it but with teenagers in the house I don’t really get away with this.


What is your next project going to be?

I’m not sure yet. In the past I have worked with fresh air and also earth so anything is possible! But I am sure it will have a strong environmental message and, knowing my habit of collecting stuff, it’s very likely to involve lots of discarded objects in some form or another... And I’d still really like to exhibit ‘Walking to save some sea’ in other locations so am working on that too... fingers crossed!

It was a really wonderful experience meeting Fran and after two hours of chatting we are both now buzzing with lots of ideas and even future possibilities of collaborative work. That would be so much fun! Something tells me we're going to see each other again soon and I am now champing at the bit to go and take a peek at her barn in the other side of Suffolk.

To find out more about Fran's inspirational work, please visit her website www.flyintheface.com. You can also listen to Fran's recent appearance on the Radio 4 Midweek week show, by following this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/midweek.shtml

______________________________________________________

Rubbish as an Artform

I don't normally blog during the weekend, but I just couldn't wait to share the details of a fantastic art exhibition that I visited today, entitled "Walking to save some sea", by Suffolk artist Fran Crowe.

The exhibition is inspired by a 2006 UN report, which revealed that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter per square mile of ocean, causing the death of over 100,000 mammals and turtles and over one million seabirds.

On learning this Fran Crowe decided to "save one square mile of ocean" by collecting 46,000 pieces of litter, over a period of a year, whilst walking along local beaches. The rubbish, which weighs a third of a tonne, is now used in her exhibition to portray what she describes as "an accessible but unflinching self-portrait of our society".

As you'll see from some of the photos below, her work is fascinating, with carefully laid-out materials providing thought-provoking content through beautiful form.

Look closely at the images and you will see all sorts of things including plastics, metals, balloons, polystyrene as well as broken toys, paintbrushes and lots of other odds and ends.

The exhibition was set within the walls of the ancient monument Landguard Fort in Felixstowe, providing a very interesting background against which to curate an installation such as this. The combination of the two is sheer genius.

So if you've got nothing to do this Bank Holiday Monday and you fancy a trip to see the exhibition in Felixstowe, then you are in luck because Monday 5th May is its last day. It really is a worthwhile visit.

However, if it's not within your reach and you would still like to find out more, then please pop along to Fran's website at www.flyintheface.com.

The exhibition really did have an instant effect. We took the foot ferry to Harwich afterwards and went exploring on the beach. I couldn't help but notice the amount of rubbish dotted around the shore, including a couple of fizzy drinks cans that had just been left on the sand. The nearest bin was only 20 metres away, less that a minute walk away. It's a pity whoever left the cans couldn't see it!
____________________________________________________________________