Boxed Guilt & Desires 2006 to 2010

The materials and materiality of “Boxed Guilt & Desires 2006 to 2010” was a crucial starting point to this project. Growing from the waste products from Foote’s studio this artwork formed an influential starting point that completely reshaped firstly how he practiced as an artist as well as the ideas and concept that form his artworks.

Originally this body of artwork started in 2006 titled “Shoe boxes of denied desires” and looked at his love of fashion and art and how he was constantly confronted as a artist the financial choices between the two, and how his desire to create wins out over the desire to consume fashion objects.

As Foote’s art practice grew in 2006 he became very aware of how much he consumed, produced and also how much waste he was creating in doing this. This reflection lead to casting a critical eye on his own art practice and how he makes artworks! It also lead to some harder questions, like what was the role of contemporary art today in a world facing finite resources, global warming, increasing population growth and instability?

“This self reflection lead me to undertake reducing and reusing as much of the physical waste coming out of my studio, “boxed Guilt & Desires 2006 to 2010 “ artwork embodies and captures this very change by capturing all the waste I was producing rather than sending it to landfill.” Foote aimed at creating a subtly subversive artwork looking at his own art practice, its waste, the role of art in communicating issues of sustainability, the desire as an artist to create and why?
while also engaging with issues of aesthetics and beauty in the world around us by reframing things.