i have not been able to draw every piece of trash in london ontario

sophie wu

I remember visiting the Coves with Michelle, Azie, and Bridget, and thinking: wow, this place is really special. And it's in London - the city where I was born, and where I now go to school - and I'd never heard of it until now. I wanted to make a practice that would help me identify this feeling of spatial dissonance. My original plan was to draw some pictures that I took when we went out to the Coves, but it felt strange to me to center my project around a place I had little connection to in my day-to-day life.

I chose to draw a piece of litter everyday, while imagining my work in the context of London at large. Western is notorious for being a "party school", and it's no secret that this is a huge contributor to its litter problem. Throughout my ELP, I explored my own identity as student in London - and a part of a population which often feels little responsibility to the community at large. Ultimately, I gained a deeper understanding of my own personal relationship to the anthropogenic and natural environment of London through this practice, and a somewhat more resolved relationship with the feeling of disorientation that I described feeling at the Coves.

I had the privilege of exhibiting my work at the Satellite gallery alongside Bridget K., Azie, and Shai. The video and images shown here are from the exhibition.