Wastescape (2012)
Wastescape brings together thousands of discarded and used plastic bottles and food packaging materials, gathered from Moravia, the South Bank Centre, and Bywaters recycling and recovery centre in Bow, each one crafted into miniature architectural objects, that together transform an under-served space at the top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall into the multi-sensory immersive installation. Oral histories from both Moravia and London bring these communities to life, with sound weaving through the space. Gayle Chong Kwan has worked with discarded and waste materials, and with communities in Moravia, a neighbourhood in Medellin in Columbia built on the city’s unofficial rubbish dump. Moravia has developed unique forms of democratic community organisation as well as waste management strategies, with its economy and vernacular architecture centring around the recycling and re-use of waste materials.![Wastescape photo by Linda Nylind](/media/Wastescape-photo-by-Linda-Nylind.jpg?v=1610895213)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 9](/media/_1100x786_crop_center-center_95_none/2332/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-9.jpg?v=1712830457 1100w, /media/_750x536_crop_center-center_95_none/2332/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-9.jpg?v=1712830457 750w, /media/_375x268_crop_center-center_95_none/2332/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-9.jpg?v=1712830457 375w)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 2012 small 1](/media/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-2012-small-1.jpg?v=1610836038)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 5](/media/_1100x786_crop_center-center_95_none/2407/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-5.jpg?v=1712830459 1100w, /media/_750x536_crop_center-center_95_none/2407/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-5.jpg?v=1712830459 750w, /media/_375x268_crop_center-center_95_none/2407/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-5.jpg?v=1712830459 375w)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 17](/media/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-17.jpg?v=1610838081)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 2012 small 5](/media/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-2012-small-5.jpg?v=1610837169)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 16](/media/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-16.jpg?v=1610837189)
![DSC 3724](/media/_1100x1540_crop_center-center_95_none/2434/DSC_3724.jpg?v=1712830460 1100w, /media/_750x1050_crop_center-center_95_none/2434/DSC_3724.jpg?v=1712830461 750w, /media/_375x525_crop_center-center_95_none/2434/DSC_3724.jpg?v=1712830461 375w)
![Gayle Chong Kwan Wastescape 12](/media/Gayle-Chong-Kwan-Wastescape-12.jpg?v=1610895012)