Notes on Bags
Collaboration with Katrina Cobain
HD video with 35mm photos, 2024-ongoing
In 2020 Cobain started her own Plastic Bag Museum out of her studio in Glasgow. This collaborative film delves into the cultural and environmental significance of plastic bags, interpreting Katrina’s collection of rare and historical bags (est. 3000) as a form of collective memory. Through their exploration, the artists question the practice of collecting vs. hoarding and the implications of a personal hobby blurring into a museum archive. The project offers a commentary on consumerism and waste, reflected in the changing economic landscape of the high street and the growing awareness of the impact of micro plastics on living matter.
Generously supported by Creative Scotland, the Norwegian Visual Artists Fund and A-N (Artists Information Company)
Protest bag from the late 1980s opposing the privatisation of London’s water which is currently owned by a Canadian pension fund and China’s biggest sovereign wealth fund
Trawling through Cobain’s archive which contain’s an estimated 3000 plastic bags amongst various pieces of correspondence
On location – Filming in the artist’s home
Kat and Rob travel to Liverpool to meet Tim Sumner, founder of the Paper Bag Archive
Nostalgia – The artists head to Southwold, visiting the ghosts of Robert’s childhood
