This began an a uni project in the middle of covid lockdown. I’d escape the flat wearing my mask, latex gloves, tracksuit pants, clutching a ratty plastic bag, and go foraging for cig butts at the train station. People at the cafe stared. One guy congratulated me for being environmentally conscious.

These were cigarettes smoked while people waited. Waited for a lift. Waited for a train. Waited for a mate. You could see that in the colours of the filters. Some were smoked till they became a golden brown. Some were pale - tossed away before their time. And some had been semi-buried, perhaps for months or years, in garden beds. In drain pipes and gutters. Their story washed out of them from countless rainy days. Cleaned till they were silvery grey.

#00034 Relic (2020-2021)

cigarette filters, cardboard backing