This project aims to disrupt a common action: Throwing rubbish out of a car into the hedge. This activity is taking place all over the UK and has a negative impact on wildlife and local communities. UK hedgerows are home and a food source to over 2,000 species, and operate as corridors across the landscape. The action of discarding into nature without thought is a reflection on how detached we have become from nature.

50 Cans were collected along a 300m length of hedge in Devon. The cans were painted with primer and then with retroreflective paint.

The cans were then placed, with care back into the same hedge. Whilst visible during the day, at night, the cans light up in car headlights and create a light installation that asks people driving past to reflect on their actions.

The work alludes to the biography of the cans – manufactured, purchased, drunk, thrown from a moving vehicle, possibly encountered by wildlife or squashed by a car, rained upon and then collected, sprayed and placed. There is an association with consumerism, capitalism, the state of western society and above all our detachment from the natural world. The cans are connected to more than just their inherent properties. They are in juxtaposition with the hedge but at the same time in conversation with each other, the hedge and everything in it.

The installation was removed within 24 hours.