I am not your
GARBAGE !
"High income countries, which only account for 16% percent of population in the world, generated 34% of the waste annually ” according to World Bank.
However, are those waste really useless and garbages? or only in the context of developed country ?
This project aims to show the relationship between things, time and space and deconstruct the concept of garbage, which indicates the great conjuncture of social classes.
​The dichotomy of purity & danger
For anthropology, waste and pollution is culturally constructed and only exist when they disorder from social structure. As a result, a 'thing' may become a garbage when it is at a wrong place.For instance, a 1,000 dollar Yeezy shoes on the dinner table . Through the comparison of waste sorting practice in different (non)places in Belgium, I intend to understand the flow and formation of “waste” and how do people perceive ‘waste’ in different spatial settings. This research serves as a preliminary theoretical framework for my visual ethnography of Do fruits and vegetables die ?
​I followed the idea of deconstruction of garbage to further investigate the alternative ways of reducing food waste by participating in a NGO called colletMet in Brussels. The following could be find here. (Click )
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PAPER
​GARBAGE
PAPER GARBAGE
REST
REST
ENIGMA ?
It is quite common to find some unexpected garbage in Brussels, especially at Midnight.
​For instance, a strand of barely used toilet paper on the street.
GREEN BAG
In the waste sorting system, all bio garbages, such as leaves, vegetable and etc, should be put in green bag and wait for procession.
However, with the large amount of refugees, sometime visitors could witness those 'new-comers' take food from the green bag, which is perceived as garbage by locals.
USELESS ?
The bar boos told me "every night, some people would throw away shoes or something, and then someone pick them up"
​In this case, do garbages have universal definition? and how can we reduce the waste?