Spike in junk mail creates art
by fiona in At home on 12.10.07
A Tyneside artist has put her unwanted post to a novel use, by creating a sculpture in her garden with all her hand-delivered junk mail.
Anne Cohen, who lives in Newcastle, has been collecting the mail on a metal spike outside her garden since January. The evolving sculpture is now over five feet tall.
Mrs Cohen said that she wanted to provoke discussion about the volume of junk mail delivered by hand in her area, and that she aims to see just how much unsolicited mail a household receives over the course of one year. She told The Northern Echo that takeaway leaflets are a particular problem in her neighbourhood because of its high student population.
At the end of the year, Mrs Cohen plans to preserve her piece so that it can go on display in a gallery.
“I’m using art as a tool to start a debate,” said the mother-of-four, who took an MA in art and the environment at Sunderland University.
We like the idea of seeing just how much junk a household receives over the course of a year. It would be interesting to see how much less junk it’s possible to receive by taking steps like putting up a ‘no junk mail’ sign and registering with the Mailing Preference Service. While the current industrial action continues, we’re not sure how much difference the Royal Mail’s opting out system will make.
If you have any good uses for junk mail, apart from just putting it straight in the recycling bin, let us know.
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