Tide Mark

By Stuart Haygarth

Stuart Haygarth searched for 40 days the coast of southern England to collect a lot of rubbish washed up with the sea. He put lighters, pacifiers, shampoo bottles, old gloves, plastic flowers, flip-flops in his backpack. The only criterion: an object had to be colored and industrially manufactured. Even as a child, the later graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer went on such a treasure hunt with his father, hoarding everything "like a magpie". After all, walks on the beach with the dog bring him to the flotsam. The more strange objects he finds, the more interested Haygarth becomes in their story: Who did the sand mold belong to? What happened to the owner? Back in the London studio, the artist cleans the treasures and categorizes them in great detail. Then the sometimes lengthy creative process begins, which turns the chaos of rubbish into orderly art, Haygarth has succeeded in turning trash into gold.