Experience: I dress up as rubbish

I’ve always been interested in the concept of value and what is thought of as rubbish. When people throw things away, a perfectly good table, say, I think, “That’s still usable.” I’m a dancer and choreographer and hoard clothing – costumes from shows or pieces my mum has lent me. Sometimes, I’ll collect random things offered on Facebook.

During the pandemic I was unable to perform but became hyper-aware of everyday movements around me. On daily walks in Los Angeles, where I live, I’d notice pieces of litter being blown about. I felt as if it was trying to get someone’s attention, but nobody was looking. I thought: “What if I start mimicking it? What if I used the trash as my choreographer?”

So I started making “duet” videos; they featured a film of litter on one side and another of me dancing while dressed like it on the other. The first TikTok video I posted was in October 2023 – I recreated a dog poo bag blowing in the wind. I wore a green top and trousers, and sat on my knees, shimmying my upper body up and down.

The duet videos didn’t take off. After a year of uploading them, I finally decided to post what I thought would be my last one. That featured me imitating an empty takeaway box in a white plastic bag. I wore all white and hunched over a cardboard box with my hands clasped above me and the soles of my feet together on the ground to look like the bag’s handles. When that video got 3m views, I thought: “The universe has spoken.”

Since then, I’ve posted more than 100 videos on TikTok and Instagram with the same caption: “PSA: Please pick up your trash”. I’ve dressed as crisp packets, plastic bags and shopping receipts. To recreate them, I layer different pieces of clothing and try to mimic any words or images. I have a rule about not creating additional waste. I don’t use glue or tape when making my costumes, only safety pins.

My favourite video is also my most complicated. I dressed as an empty packet of Chex Mix (an American snack) that had been stuffed through a hole in a metal pole. I crouched on my knees on top of a swivel chair, my right arm dangling as I held another chair upside down on top of me with my left arm. That was tricky, as I kept falling off while trying to balance.

The litter I choose to film must be moving in the wind and made of a synthetic material that won’t biodegrade.

Once I’ve found something suitable, I record plenty of footage, later choosing the best 15 seconds to use. Then I put the litter in the bin – I want to leave a slightly cleaner place behind. After that, I go home and piece together an outfit that resembles it, then film myself wearing it and in a location that looks similar to where I found it. Then I edit the two videos together.

People don’t realise how much work is involved. It’s a whole production, because every video I do is like putting on a little show. I am sore the day after filming as I have been contorting my body to the limits of what it can do. The videos may be only 15 seconds long, but I have to repeat moves over and over again to get a good shot. Sometimes, I feel self-conscious filming if other people are nearby, but I’m mostly used to it now. I’m often hunched over while recording, so people think I’m not feeling well. I’m like: “I’m OK! I’m just recording trash!”

I see social media as my virtual gallery space where people can come and scroll through. There will always be haters, but as long as they’re talking about my work, that’s all that matters. I have received some weird messages. As I’m barefoot in some of the videos, people have said things such as: “I love your feet, they’re beautiful.” You know you’ve made it online when you get noticed by the foot fetish community.

It feels as if the world is choking on rubbish. We put things in the bin thinking it disappears, but, actually, most of it ends up in landfill. I know I’m not going to be able to change the world, but I hope my videos will help people notice rubbish. And maybe next time they see litter that’s moving, it’ll remind them to pick it up.

As told to Annalise Smith

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