It was on the 19th August 2020 that I first decided to create something with the litter I had picked up, rather than just putting it on the floor, taking a photo, and posting it on Instagram. No idea why, think I just thought I should do something with it before it got recycled/binned. The first piece (see below) was titled ‘Litter Boy Cycles Towards A Pile Of Shit’…which of course is exactly what it is.
More pieces followed and it soon became evident I was spending more and more time on each piece…as each piece was getting bigger…and I wanted each piece to be better than the last! Why was I doing it? Because I wanted to highlight the amount of litter that is out there…but I was also trying to show that even a pile of crap can produce something beautiful.
I was soon piling up the litter and keeping it in the shed until I did my next piece. Wind is a nightmare when you're working with litter, so I was also starting to keep my eye on the weather and see which days were looking good for the next piece! You need a day where the wind will not get above about 4 mph. Any more wind than that and you are at risk of it blowing part of your creation away, and this will drive you insane…especially when you have spent hours on it. Believe me…I know!
When creating a piece I decide on an image and then print it off on A4 to work from. In the early days it was anything, but the bigger the pieces have become the more they mean something to me. I have questioned my actions on many occasions but have always carried on. I guess the passion takes over? They take a bit of tweaking these days at the end as you never really know what they look like until you get the photos from above…which is a job in itself!
I have to attach the phone to our extendable washing line pole which is then extended as much as possible. I then stand on the top of our step ladder and hold the washing line pole above my head and point it over the art…having first set the timer on the phone camera! Unsurprisingly it takes a few goes until I get the photo I'm happy with.
Most times the piece has to be destroyed the same evening, as of course if the wind picks up overnight all the shit will end up everywhere and my neighours will think I'm even more of a twat! It can be a bit soul destroying dismantling something the same day you have spent hours creating it…but that is just how it goes when you decide to make something out of litter!
All pieces are posted on my Instagram account @AverageGradient with the hashtag: #LitterArtbyAverageGradient.
Scroll to the botton of the page to see all pieces of Art, and see my other pages for more information/photos about some of the larger pieces.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking!
Above photograph Copyright of Fabio De Paolo
Above photograph Copyright of Fabio De Paolo
Above photograph Copyright of Fabio De Paolo
All 51 pieces as of 28th November 2023
All photographs Copyright of Average Gradient unless where stated