Artist Statement

“This is work in its most basic sense: a means of survival. China offers only a rudimentary package of social services; millions have to devise their own way of keeping their head above water, even in China’s economic miracle. But it’s not really about the deprivation. Many of the scavengers are far from pathetic. These are people with an aim, an objective in perfect harmony with the highly affluent society in which they scavenge for a living.” This is how Hans Moleman, in ‘The Land of boundless Ambition’ describes the scene in the work by Dutch artists WassinkLundgren.

“Empty Bottles” brings together 33 of the award winning contemporary photo books framed. Each book has been opened at a page that runs in numerical order, starting with the front cover and ending with the back. The works vary from, 24 full colour documents of bottle collectors to the remaining images that are purely textual, including a ‘special thanks’ and the publishing information. As you look at every frame, it is as if you are walking through the journey that the artists took photographically and personally, finalising in this fascinating contemporary look at a part of life in China.

The series is comprised of the portraits of 24 scavengers who are attracted to the bottles which WassinkLundgren have put in front of their camera. Each time a bottle is picked up, the duo snaps a picture, letting the empty bottle act as a cable release and turning the work into a performance piece of every day life. The project captures and documents the real-life acts of recycling, which usually goes largely unnoticed but is an integral part of contemporary life in china. 

Artist Bio

Dutch photographers Thijs groot Wassink and Ruben Lundgren work in partnership on photography and film projects that shift mundane, often unnoticeable, everyday occurrences into visually compelling and gently amusing observations of the world around us. (Greg Hobson – National Media Museum)

The collaboration started in 2005 after they graduated from the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands and they have been working together since, making work often described as conceptual documentary photography. Wassink lives in London where he recently finished an MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins. Lundgren lives in Beijing where he is following an MA at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

For further information on WassinkLundgren please see www.wassinklundgren.com