Phytologic Material Handeling
Proposal for New Covent Garden Market Vitrine Commission
Indicative Image
2020
Botanical organisms collaged over a vibrant atmospheric watercolour surface are intermingled with utilitarian objects and mechanisms found at London’s New Covent Garden Market. Phytologic Material Handling is a proposal for an expansive and compelling image that focuses on the rich details of the market’s produce as well as the essential apparatus that are imperative to the market’s operations. Through the use of digital photography, collage, and watercolour paint, this proposal aims to highlight the lesser seen aspects of London’s New Covent Garden Market.
Phytologic Material Handling would be created through a series of visits to the market where I would work with digital photography to generate content for the final image. When shooting the market’s unique produce, I would experiment with a macro lens, intending to capture the magnificent visual details of the organic commodities. I would also extensively document the materials and objects that are used to enable the market to function such as trolleys, pallets, Dutch auction buckets, and cardboard. Focusing on utilitarian aspects of the market will facilitate a strong connection to the suppliers and traders of New Covent Garden Market. I would aim to document the essential tools and materials that enable them to perform their jobs.
The combination of natural and human-made subject matter in the proposal Phytologic Material Handling will create an engaging conceptual tension for the Vitrine Commission. The colourful watercolour context will act as a democratic surface, placing these divergent elements on the same visual plane. Viewers will have the opportunity to be engrossed in the captivating organic details of the market’s offerings and also gain an appreciation for the objects and materials that exist behind the scenes at New Covent Garden Market. Phytologic Material Handling will celebrate the market’s remarkable selection of botanical produce whilst also acknowledging the practical aspects of the market’s supply chain in a vibrant and surreal collage.