The All London Blue Bag Extravaganza

Everyone is familiar with the blue ‘off licence’ carrier bag. An archetypal form of cheap packaging, they are used in independent stores all across London, regardless of the social status of the neighbourhood. Because they are so prevalent they are also very familiar in the form of litter and are thought of as having very little value.

This project aims to create desirable objects out of these seemingly worthless everyday items. By hand screen printing each bag as a limited edition, it creates a new sense of value, making people actually want to own them as an object in their own right.

The fourteen different designs represent a broad cross section of London society. Each design shows ‘alternative landmarks’ with famous and less-famous local sights made into two and three colour printed logos.

A blue plastic off licence carrier bag with a drawing of a nail bar advert of a woman holding our her hands, nails on show, and the word ‘PECKHAM’ screen printed on it.

The bags were available for sale from the Garudio Studiage online shop throughout the exhibition, but also one bag from each edition was placed in a stock of bags at a ‘partner’ shop in the area of each design, to be given to a lucky customer at random.

Shown at

Westbourne Grove Church ArtSpace, Westbourne Grove, London, W11 2RW

From 19th May to 29th June 2009

A blue plastic off licence carrier bag with a Union Jack, along with the words ‘My Mum went to Oxford Street and all I got was this lousy blue plastic bag’ screen printed on it.
A blue plastic off licence carrier bag with a drawing of the words ‘SHEPHERDS BUSH’ in the style of the Walkabout pub screen printed on it.
A blue plastic off licence carrier bag with a drawing of the words ‘NEW CROSS’ in the style of the Venue night club screen printed on it.