Gold junk
The ascription of value and ideas of redemption, core to the series Brooklyn // Bognor, are further explored in the series Gold junk. Through Brooklyn // Bognor
the artist contemplates how the avant-garde took something of little value -- discarded 1980s style -- and, redeeming its value, influenced today’s
electroclash-inspired style and culture.

In 2010, the artist began making Gold junk, gilding pieces of rubbish / trash --
an old banana, the sole of an old shoe -- transforming them into sought-after artefacts and giving them value.

Broken cuttlefish washed up on Bognor beach during a storm were given new
life by the artist. In June 2010, one hundred of these unique, signed pieces
were placed in slot machines throughout the Bognor Pier amusement arcade.
The arcade became a gallery, the machines became display cases, the objet d'art
became prizes won by holiday-makers who packed the arcade during
a busy seaside weekend.

This site-specific installation, Gold junk pt.1, was part of the Urban Encounters festival 2010, a partnership with Goldsmiths and Tate Britain.

As the prizes were won and taken home in black paper bags, the work Gold junk pt.1 dispersed, so the artist created a short film and sound piece, Gold junk pt.2.

The film represents not only the installation but the rhythm and poetry of the seaside, its sound and music, including the artist's composition 'Fugue in Sea',
is central to the work. The film, Gold junk pt.2 premiered at City to Sea on June10, 2011.

To view the film Gold junk pt.2 click here.

See images and film stills on the following pages.