1. Paper cup

The humble paper cup, used just once and discarded. But is it so humble? What secrets does this cup conceal? What can it possibly reveal?What are its origins? Where did it come from? Who made it? Truth to tell no-one really cares. These cups are used once and discarded in their billions every year, a figure which is escalating and which shows no sign of abating.

But why has it been discarded? Who decides which materials we value and keep, even by 'recycling', a process the value of which has been often questioned and which is not suitable for these products.

I am fascinated by these materials and how our cultural sensibilities have become inured to certain products; thus they become an accessory to fast, so-called 'post-consumer' lifestyles. (Inure; to accustom (some-one) to something, especially something unpleasant. To harden, toughen, season, temper, condition, accustom, habituate, familiarise, acclimatise, adjust, attune, desensitise, dehumanise, brutalise)

A symbol of status as opposed to status symbol. We are too busy to sit and drink at a table from a 'proper' cup, a ceramic cup, a hard cup, a washable cup, a re-usable cup, until it breaks or cracks, as nothing lasts forever.

Paper cup from college canteen at Bath School of Art and Design, Sion Hill, Bath 2012