Leavings | Interactive Environmental Installation
An interactive installation using repurposed rubbish collected from local Charnwood Forest areas, transformed into a living sculpture that challenges environmental consciousness and waste management practices.
Background
During lockdown, increased traffic to unmanaged wild woods and permissive paths around Charnwood Forest resulted in excessive rubbish and fly-tipping without adequate clearance support. This inspired an installation addressing both cultural and environmental issues: our failure to teach proper outdoor etiquette and our unsustainable approach to waste disposal.
Installation: Burton Street, Loughborough
Duration: July 2021
Artist: Andy Harper
Commissioned by: Vehicle Arts
Support: Arts Council England
Featured: BBC Radio Leicester interview, 28.06.2021
Duration: July 2021
Artist: Andy Harper
Commissioned by: Vehicle Arts
Support: Arts Council England
Featured: BBC Radio Leicester interview, 28.06.2021
Project Aims
The installation creates an immersive, meditative environment that is accessible, fun, and inspiring, whilst challenging the neighbourhood and wider community to consider our environmental impact. A proximity sensor triggers audio samples produced from recordings of litter being manipulated, emulating natural sounds like wind through leaves or birdsong. These soundscapes incorporate binaural properties for gentle meditation, accompanied by corresponding colours to match the mood.
Waste as a Mirror
The repurposed waste serves as a stark reminder of the volume we generate locally and globally, compelling us to confront questions about improving waste management systems, reducing packaging, promoting sustainable alternatives, and becoming more responsible recyclers.
BBC Radio Leicester interview 28.06.2021
Woven into the Community
Leavings functioned as a bridge between artist and community. Children participated in creating litter vines, fostering ownership and sparking conversations about digital art, the internet of things, and environmental responsibility. Public tours facilitated open dialogues about waste management and interconnectedness, leading to unexpected encounters with people from all walks of life.
The Installation
The project unfolded organically like a living sculpture. Vines constructed from salvaged materials and transformed litter wove around the house, trees, and railings. Beyond decoration, they offered interactive elements through sensory vines with embedded salvaged wire that conducted light and sound, responding to human contact. The collected rubbish was cleaned and pressed into natural shapes like leaves, installed onto the front of the house and in a large bare tree visible to the entire street.
Sensors mounted on a board at the front of the home allowed public interaction throughout the exhibition duration, triggering sounds as described above and providing project information.
Litter Soundscape - Sensor #1
Leavings Soundscape - Sensor #3
Leavings Soundscape - Sensor #4
Leavings Soundscape - Sensor #5
Leavings Soundscape - Sensor #6
Leavings Soundscape - Sensor #7
Installation: Burton Street, Loughborough
Duration: July 2021
Artist: Andy Harper
Commissioned by: Vehicle Arts
Support: Arts Council England
Featured: BBC Radio Leicester interview, 28.06.2021
Duration: July 2021
Artist: Andy Harper
Commissioned by: Vehicle Arts
Support: Arts Council England
Featured: BBC Radio Leicester interview, 28.06.2021
Press:
Loughborough Echo - Front Page: pressreader.com/uk/loughborough-echo/20210804/page/1
Loughborough Echo - Page 3: pressreader.com/uk/loughborough-echo/20210804/283021172721241
Photography: With thanks to Jo McLeish - The Media Room
Looking Forward
Future iterations envision larger, more impactful installations that amplify environmental awareness, inspire sustainable practices, empower young minds, and harness advanced scanning and spatial audio technologies for even more immersive audiovisual experiences blurring the lines between art, nature, and technology.
