Jac Scott Artist

Excess: Experiments in Living

Environmental and economic issues currently dominate the global news. This collection presents a timely and disturbing portrait of a world without a sense of equilibrium. The collection examines the way we live today, with a particular focus on our relationship to wealth and materialism. Viewed as intriguing indicators of society’s status and values, the collection raises issues from a perspective of observation and curiosity. The aim: to deliver open ended messages, rather than a polemic, for the subject is complex and therefore the focus of the collection is on reflecting the human condition, rather than a judgement of it.

International and European directives recognise the need for major changes in the consumption of food, fossil fuels and water. However, the issue of material consumption remains distanced from the debate. How societies tackle the critical agendas of economic downturn and environmental damage reflects their relationship not only to the planet but also to the consumption of resources and products. Researchers recognise the links between higher levels of consumption and rising levels of waste. The UK produces 330 million tonnes of waste a year from homes and business.

We generate more waste per head of population than any other European Union country and only recycle an average of 18%, compared to the E.U. average of 36.4% *. However, the message expounded by industry, to give the consumer what they want, aims to justify materialism as coming from the individual’s demands rather than from an inbuilt obsolescence. This commercial subversive strategy supports the notion that rapid accumulation and disposal of possessions is vital for the prosperity of a nation. Whilst advertisers have finely tuned our senses to believe this too, there appears little hope for a move away from materialism as a driving force.

Whilst recycling is now within the public consciousness, the true aggregate of our waste culture is hidden. Ambivalence by society towards other waste streams, such as the detritus of manufacturing, commercial garbage and clinical waste, pervades, hence obscuring the true picture. Jac Scott

Rural Reality part 1 and 2

A rural farming idyll is moulded through urban sensibilities and television programmes as more people lose touch with the raw reality of the countryside: 80% of the population now live in towns and cities.

Rural Reality part 1
Materials: discarded television, fibreglass, old television aerial, chrome legs, rubber
Dimensions: 80 x 86 x 50 cm

Rural Reality part 2
'Skin' of 'Rural Reality part 1' inverted, fed, hung.
Materials: rubber, expandable foam, steel meat hook and chain, barbed wire
Dimensions: 170 x 57 x 50 cm plus chain

Click the images to enlarge
I

Materials: old shoe lasts, magnifying glasses, paint, text on clear Perspex
Dimensions: 25 x 244 x 30 cm
Surplus

A collection of photographic images of clear plastic packaging printed onto scrap pieces of clear Perspex. The forms have been photographed in a style that reflects the transient nature of their role.

Click the images to enlarge
Public Convenience

Materials: 352 discarded disposable tissue toilet seat covers and varnish

Dimensions: 450 x 380 x 4 mm
Mirror (detail of room)

Materialism is reflected in ‘Mirror’: a room decorated with ‘wallpaper’ created from collaged photographs of discarded possessions.

Dimensions: 2 x 2 x 2 metres
You Don’t Love Me Anymore

A collection of abandoned seats photographed and collaged into a contemporary fabric design. Printed design on collapsible chair referencing fly tipping.

Materials: metal chair frame, printed polyester canvas, bias tape
Dimensions: 74 x 60 x 50 cm
Love Poems

Series of photographic images printed onto see-thru mirrored Perspex. 'Love Poems' are poetic images of abandoned possessions and equipment creating a visual puzzle capturing both the onlooker and the image in one frame.

Click the images to enlarge