General

Great British Rubbish

posted by Amber Weaver August 29, 2018

A wonderful piece of print takes the form of the visual history of society’s love affair with the disposable. Also known as Great British Rubbish. Hidden within the pages is a story of Britain through what we discard rather than what we keep. The book features just a glimpse into the huge collection of ephemera in the little-known museum, Land of Lost Content.

It’s content consist of just over 120 items, lovingly photographed to display their properties as a printed object as much as their graphic design, so that every detail, tear and fold has been captured. Each item is what usually wouldn’t make it into collection, book or museum – you would sooner find them in a bin than anywhere else. Curators of this book wanted to avoid anything that felt too collectable, too precious and focus on items that would ordinarily be disregarded. Almost every item that features was chosen for it’s graphical curiosity, they hold a certain charm as the majority were not designed by heroes of the industry and as such have an idiosyncrasy to their less considered approach.

The objects in the book are not chosen to meet any themes, nor ordered chronologically – they were picked from the Land of Lost Content collection to emphasise the chaotic jumble of the museum. The purpose of this was to make the reader feel like they were rifling through a treasure chest, never knowing what will appear next – this furthers the notion that there are diamonds in the rough, that this is great rubbish.

Our favourite feature is the case bound front cover finished with foiled text on a stock made from discarded ephemera too! Featuring a foreword from Stella Mitchell, the owner and collector behind Land of Lost Content and an essay on the nature of ephemera from Teal Triggs, Associate Dean at the Royal College of Art.