Disposable Gestures

Between 2018 and 2020, I built an inventory of more than 500 transparent disposable gloves. I found them randomly at the streets in the city of Madrid. At first, it was curious to find those hands as if they were saying something. They seemed like a catalog of urban expressions, absent gestures, some petrified at sidewalks, while others flying off in search of a new destination to colonize and laminate. These “hands”, these disposable plastic gloves, are available in markets and greengroceries to handle food. Their use is mandatory, even if it is only for few minutes and then they are discarded.

I wonder is it necessary to use plastic gloves to handle a banana that has its own peel? Is it necessary to use these plastic gloves instead of having the logic to wash our food at home before cooking or eating them? Is it consistent that these plastic gloves used for hygiene end up on the streets as garbage with the indifference of everyone? Is it manageable to use million of plastic garbage with no clear plan to do next?

Through this work, I aim to expose the culture of excess in our societies and how certain hygiene practices are designed primarily to benefit an industry that pollutes without restraint, and this exploration takes the form of a photobook—a repetitive and nonsensical monologue that reflects our inability to manage waste and how cities have become the largest centers of pollution on the planet.