Discarded Intimacy

The Project

monique — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:48:40 +0000

Discarded Intimacy came out of an interest in fabric and clothes and the shocking waste that is so apparent in London. Scarves, coats, shoes, trousers and shirts lay side by side with empty cans, cold chips and cigarette butts. My project aims at re-counting each piece of clothing as a story in itself, building a database out of forensic evidence and analysis, whether stains or strains, hair or nail, food or blood. The intimacy of those items will be revealed and made available in a new display, inviting touch where eyes looked in disgust and repulsion. Clothes are reclaiming their tactile dimension over the visual.

Purple Girl’s Jumper, Brockley Station

monique — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:15:00 +0000

i actually found this jumper yesterday, but I did not dare pick it up because tehre was a woman standing right next to it. I thought it must be her daughter’s that was just left there for a bit while the daughter’s off somewhere. However, the day after (in teh afternoon!) it was still there. Lying in exactly the same position as it was when I first saw it. The station is very very close to where I live, so I went home to drop off my stuff, had a chat with my housemates and went out again in an hour with my chalk and camera. If the jumper was gone by that time then it’s just not my luck. But.. surprise..surprise! It was still there! Hmmm… it’s amazing how people just ignore things here! I suppose the food stains on the jumper would be a turn off for anyone who would want to pick it up. Right..

Grey Cardigan, London Bridge

monique — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:52:00 +0000

A friend called me today to sat that he found a pair of blue socks in London Bridge. he took pictures but did not take it. Another mission! So I got on the train and tried to find the blue socks. he said it was on the stairs on No. 1 London Bridge (that big ugly building opposite the train station.Looked around, no socks. Oh well.. who ever took it off must have taken them off to do something (I really can’t imagine what kind of activity in the middle of the city that would require someone to be sockless) and then came back to retrieve them. Oh well.. as I walked back to the station with my head hung low out of disappointment a great discovery was made! A grey cardigan just lying there on the pavement by the bus stop right in front of No. 1 London Bridge! I looked around, no one was looking. I quickly crouched down and drea around it. Oh.. beautiful smooth pavements they have at London Bridge. The chalk went perfect on it. Took my pictures and then I was off. out of the corner of my eyes I saw a man standing by the bus stop staring.

Hankerchief on Brockley Road

monique — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Near the house I saw an interesting shape lying on the ground. It looks like fabric. But on a closer look I found that it was a hankerchief. Hmm.. Can be considered clothes? Well.. some people wear hankerchief type stuff on their necks right? I guess it could be depending on how you use it. The outline looked like a gnome’s head. Nice!

Pink Sock on St Donatt’s Road

monique — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:00:00 +0000

I was walking home pretty late from New Cross Gate station after seeing a gig in Barbican and saw this pink baby sock. Soaking wet lying on the pavement near St Donatt’s bus stop. Had my trusty Canon so I took a picture with the powerful flash that makes everything go flat. Picked it up and took it home. Even though it was in a plastic bag somehow I could feel the wetness. The sock must have gotten loose in the bus and fell of the baby’s foot. Poor thing.. I hope that was the end of the journey for the poor baby. Note to self: chalk works really well on wet pavements.

Wet, Smelly Clothes on New Cross Rd, SE14

monique — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Today was one of my classmate’s birthday picnic at Victoria Park. As usual I was late and because I had to scan some designs I drew for the project I had to stop by Goldsmiths library and walked from there to New Cross Gate station. Walking Past the alley between the rows of small shops and Deptford townhall I noticed some things liying onthe ground. i was already very very late (as usual!) and I debated against walking into the alley for a closer look, because I know that if I do it will take me at least another half an hour before I can finally get going. But… then again.. I do need more clothes fo my project. So I went. And to my delight, there was more than one! There were 5 pieces of clothes (still didn’t know what they were as they were all very wet and lying on top of one another in a disgusting looking pile) and one shoe! So I got out my chalk, drew their outlines and took some pictures. When I picked them up with my latex gloves I saw that there was a black cargo styled corduroy skirt with frayed edges (myindustry denim creative, size 36) with the writing The Season Between Autumn and Winter Jeans, a pair of gray cotton pajama bottom (Secret Possesions, size 8-10), a tiny black lycra mix turtle neck top (no label), a black knitted zipped high neck cardigan (You and Me, no size), one black knitted long sleeved turtleneck, and one black high top fur lined sneakers (Furla, no size, this is quite an expensive Italian brand by the way, I am surprsed to find it here in this dump! I guess people do throw away anything in this city). As you know wet clothes can be very heavy, good thing the alley was very close to our lb at the school so I made a quick trip there to drop off everything before going to Victoria Park. Eeeww.. the lab is going to be so smelly tomorrow morning!
PS: While drying the clothes I found another piece of shirt that I forgot to mention. It was hidden in the plastic bag. Good thing I didn’t throw it away. It is now hanging out to dry with three gloves I found on another occasion. A black turtle neck.

Baby Shirt and Pair of Short, Isle of Dogs, E14

monique — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:26:00 +0000

I needed to see a different part of the city for this project and i decided to join my friend on her walk around the docklands for her project about the area and the community. It a very very nice day and a very nice walk, even though I had a shitty morning because I just found out that I would not get my visa on time for my Berlin trip. She took me around an area of council houses and by the garbage bin in front of one, I found a pair of shorts (Slazenger, Size S..I foudn out later that the shots still had pegs on them! oops.. I was stealing someone’s shorts! Sorry.. Anyone who knows who the shorts belong to please tell me so I can return them!) and not far from there a purple baby shirt (the brand was no longer visible, he size was 7/8). Even though the shorts were by a garbage bin it was not that dirty, nonetheless I was glad that brough my hand anti bacteria gel! And when I picked up the baby shirt, a colony of insects came wit it as well. Eeewww! I am easily grossed out by creep crawlies, so I instantly dropped the shirt and started jumping around to get get rid of the imaginary bugs I thought were all over me with my friend watching, an amused look on her face. They were not ants. To me they looked like teeny tiny cockroaches. Eeeww.. Anyway.. I shook out the shirt and put it back in the plastic bag with the shorts.
One minute walk from there, I saw one gold shoe with a flower detail peeking out from under a car. I guess the owner dropped it when she was getting out of her car. Oh well.. somebody will be missing that one when if I take it, so I just took a picture, drew the outline, and left the show as it was.

One Sock in Mudchute Park and Farm

monique — Sat, 24 May 2008 04:22:00 +0000

When my friend asked me whether I wanted to walk through the park with animals to get to the DLR station from Canary Wharf, I thought she was talking about regular park animals. You know, ducks, doves, geese, and the like. But this place is amazing! A real farm in the middle of London! Well.. not in the middle as in the city centre, as Mudchute is in the east. But it is very close to Canary Wharf where they have all the big and ugly office buildings. You can actually see the buildings from the farm. My friend took a cool picture of cows with Canary Wharf building scenery on the background. Everyone thought that she photoshoped it! They had everything there: chickens (all kinds), goats, sheeps, donkeys (the first time I saw donkeys!), pigs, and even llamas! I wonder what are llamas doing in a farm? anyone can come and pet the animals, have picnics, etc for free. Kids would really love i and on this very nice and warm day I saw some children out with their parents looking evry excited to see all the animals. And everything is free of charge! This is what I love about London. There are so many things you can do in the city that would not cost you anything. I guess for people who have lived in the cit for years they do not notice how niice and convenient this is, but for someone coming from a country where even primary education is not free, this is very nice.
Walking away from the farm, I saw one black sock lying on the grass. Good thing I had my spray paint,chalk would have been useless for this. How can someone drop one sock in the middle of a farm? It would be interesting to know where taht sock have been. It looks worn as well, and muddy.

One Black Sock, Millwall Docks, E14

monique — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:04:00 +0000

I found this single very dirty black sock around Millwall Docks, SE 14 while walking around with my friend for her project. To be honest, I did not post this straight away because I did not know the location or the name of the street. And I kept putting off trying to find the place on the map (as I am a terrible map reader). Finally today (June 14, 2008–my late father’s birthday) while I’m labeling and analyzing all the dirt (or debris as they call it in forensic science lingo) found on all the clothes I found, I came across this sock again. And I decided to give my friend a call. She’s amazing, she could tell me where it was. What a good memory. So anyway, I found it off Preston’s Road (in fornt of an industrial looking building) in Millwall Docks area. Very dirty and stiff.

Trench Coat, Brixton Park

monique — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:55:00 +0000

The cap was across the street from the park where I saw the trenchcoat. I was wondering if the coat was still there after we left it for an hour. It was! In the exact same position. So we decided to take it. My friend was warning me that the area is quite dodgy and that I should be careful. People can be quite violent in that area. As I reach for my chalk I remember seeing flowers stuck to a lampost and on the ground near the park. A memorial for someone who was killed there. I was hoping that no one thought I was stealing someone’s stuff. But I did it anyway, and no one was looking. So I took pictures and I took the coat. At home I looked it over no brand. It just sayas on the side: made in Italy, size S. It was in perfect condition and it didn’t even smellll that bad. I showed it off to my house mate. She tried it on. Looked really nice on her. I wonder how it ended up there. Someone must have been drinking, got drunk, hot, took off the coat, and forgotten about it.