It felt like something of a miracle to get through this module as Covid-19 restrictions enforced what felt like a complete change of direction for me.

I had intended to continue my investigation into the presence of essence in objects and the reality of 'Thing Power' as expressed by Jane Bennet, but this time taking the study to the end of an object's useful life. This work was to incorporate our seeming acceptance and even encouragement of built-in obsolescence, and the strange situation whereby some objects end up in Recycling Centres and are crushed to wind up as landfill, and others somehow meet some 'desirability' criterion that means they are recognised to have vintage value and then resold at places like reclamation centres often at vastly inflated prices.There are of course other interesting steps possible along the way with objects ending up in Charity, Junk and Antique shops and Markets but for the purpose of this module, I decided to exclude these for simplicity.

After serious thought, I decided to make my External Partner 3 locations on the Rotherwas Industrial Estate, Hereford:

1. A site on the estate where there are several of the old Romney Huts in pretty much their original external condition. I felt that I could use the wonderful textures and colours to be found in the fabric of the huts to capture the history of the area.
2. The Hereford Waste Recycling Centre where I would be able to record objects, often not self-selected which would add to the challenge by removing any personal attachment, at the end of their useful lives. I would have enjoyed the opportunity thrown up by this venue to learn more about the recycling of objects and the recycling industry generally.
3. Warehouse 701, a huge Reclamation Centre; the upmarket face of Rotherwas. Here I could see those objects often seemingly selected at random that had met some mysterious criterion that marked them out as ‘vintage’ and therefore desirable again and often sold with a price tag hugely in excess of their original value.

I’d been in touch with Herefordshire Council and the owner of Warehouse 701 to explain my project and had been granted permission by both to work on their sites. I had had the necessary induction at the Hereford Waste Recycling Centre and had been allocated the requisite steel capped boots and Hi-Viz vest and arranged to have my first session there the morning the Covid-19 restrictions kicked in. My contact at the Council had been immensely supportive and was keen for me to put on an exhibition of finished work at their education department.

I was extremely disappointed as I had been very excited about the project and it was initially very difficult to let it go.

My intention was to use mainly film and photography for this module and I had thankfully taken some photographs at the Romney Hut site and used the opportunity while visiting Warehouse 701 to take some investigative shots, a few of which can be seen in the Module 2 - Part 1 Gallery

1. A site on the estate where there are several of the old Romney Huts in pretty much their original external condition. I felt that I could use the wonderful textures and colours to be found in the fabric of the huts to capture the history of the area.
2. The Hereford Waste Recycling Centre where I would be able to record objects, often not self-selected which would add to the challenge by removing any personal attachment, at the end of their useful lives. I would have enjoyed the opportunity thrown up by this venue to learn more about the recycling of objects and the recycling industry generally.
3. Warehouse 701, a huge Reclamation Centre; the upmarket face of Rotherwas. Here I could see those objects often seemingly selected at random that had met some mysterious criterion that marked them out as ‘vintage’ and therefore desirable again and often sold with a price tag hugely in excess of their original value.

I’d been in touch with Herefordshire Council and the owner of Warehouse 701 to explain my project and had been granted permission by both to work on their sites. I had had the necessary induction at the Hereford Waste Recycling Centre and had been allocated the requisite steel capped boots and Hi-Viz vest and arranged to have my first session there the morning the Covid-19 restrictions kicked in. My contact at the Council had been immensely supportive and was keen for me to put on an exhibition of finished work at their education department.

I was extremely disappointed as I was very excited about the project and it was initially very difficult to let it go.

My intention was to use mainly film and photography for this module and I had thankfully taken some photographs at the Romney Hut site and used the opportunity while visiting Warehouse 701 to take some investigative shots, a few of which can be seen in the Module 2 - Part 1 Gallery