This prize is supposed to be inspired by themes of environmentalism and recycling. Only some of the Artworks touched on ideas of sustainability, the environment or recycling. This did not depreciate the quality of artworks being presented. Consisting of ‘outdoor’ and ‘indoor’ categories, the indoor contingent seemed far more engaging and stimulating. In general the collective seemed more slick, and more suited to a contemporary gallery space. The outside works seemed a little simplistic and the stronger pieces were undermined by a few lack lustre cliché choices.

The problem arises when you are making a work in this style, using these sorts of materials and trying to make a statement that has this particular recycled aesthetic. The work can end up treading a very fine line between just being just of that aesthetic, being a ‘statement’ and being a strong thoughtful, clever piece of art.

The problem therefore exists for me in the prize its self. Trying to fill a space with artworks about recycling is an art in itself. Because recycling as a concept already has it own built-in aesthetic, will raise problems, it can easily become gimmicky. So the outstanding artworks for me had other subject matter, for example Confluence, with its algae like construction made from telephone book pages that crawled along the floor and Graham Brindley’s Time Line (above). A quietly poetic, and subtle ensemble of a piece of slate and a slightly battered aluminium drink bottle. There is a delicate line of water that slowly flows down the slate, etching away, and slowly dripping into the drinks bottle. A grand statement about the problems that all Victorians face daily. This water is then recycled hinting at the potential of reuse. However the water is also the counter, as it drips to a beat, the stop watch of its own destiny. It resonated far further than some of the other works, which became too literal. For example Susan Reddrop’s Sea Bed, with its clever play on words it did not seem to resonate any further than an old bed with bits of plastic (that looked like sea anemones) stuck to it. Overall, it seemed that the interest lay not in the artworks themselves, although most of them were very interesting, but as with all competitions it is the differences between the artworks that stimulates conversation. To collect 34 peoples interpretations of what recycling is or could be in one arena was fascinating.