Everywhere: life in a littered world

Litter is everywhere. It is on country lanes and city streets, washed up in polar regions and deposited on mountains as particles present in ‘plastic rain’. It can be so small it needs to be viewed through a microscope and so large that its true scale can only be understood through satellite imagery. It’s the coffee cup in the hedge and the Pacific garbage patch. This online exhibition presented works by international artists who explore everyday practices of littering and consider its effects. It asked: What might the future look like in our littered world? Are there ways that humans, animals and plants can co-exist with or even prosper amongst the rubbish? And what will it take to clean up our act? Everywhere was launched alongside the international conference MICRO2020 which explored the fate and impacts of microplastics in the environment.