[09/08/17]

Roadside Montage Homescreens is an ongoing series of smartphone wallpapers combining wildflowers, taxonomy and litter-picking. Inspired by the Royal Herbarium at Kew, RMH eternally flattens native flora specimen behind the screen with debris found nearby into Anthropocenic portraits of nature. Isolated "weeds" and "rubbish" acquire new positive language; of scale and composition, of history and circumstance, of beauty and intrigue.

In hyper-visual modern urban life slowing down is deemed inconvenient. Petrol-station flowers: lunch on-the-go: municipal architecture: parkour: road sweepers: geotagging: glyphosate. The human condition of selfishness serves only to accelerate; harder, better, faster, stronger. Deceleration unfolds time, making room to inspect, highlight, share responsibility. RMH offers a potential mode of active citizenship, an illustration of doing good. Tania Bruguera suggests in Reflections on Arte Útil, that useful art "transforms affectiveness into effectiveness" and proposes an improved reality through positive action. By living slower, we can learn to enjoy problem-solving and begin noticing the aesthetic impact we have on the environment.


"Inside/on/under/between/opposite/behind/next to/beyond the paving/car/bin/drain/verge/dog piss/needle/shopfront I found a weed/wildflower/plant/shrub/shoot/nettle/seedhead and a
receipt/cigarette butt/nappy/wrapper/bottle/bus pass/flyer"

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Roadside Montage Homescreens is available for free download by clicking on the following individual images and to set as your mobile phone wallpaper.


borage_&_lottery_ticket



ivy-leaf_toadflax_&_sock_packaging



wintercress_&_protest_leaflet



garlic_mustard_&_folded_A4



common_vetch_&_takeaway_box



scarlet_pimpernel_&_drinks_bottle



red_clover_&_beaded_necklace



yarrow_&_coffee_lid



common_daisy_&_crisp_packet



tufted_vetch_&_confectionery_tray



shepherd's_purse_&_hygiene_apron



hedge_mustard_&_takeaway_lid



forget-me-not_&_biscuit_tray



lady's_smock_&_coffee_cup



lesser_celandine_&_envelope

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Sean Roy Parker is an artist and social worker living in London and St Leonards-on-sea. He has exhibited at Eastside Projects, Auto Italia South East, Deptford X, Towner Gallery and is currently participating in School of the Damned's alternative MA programme. He runs community engagement projects under PEFA with upcoming workshops at Cell Project Space and Bohemia Walled Garden, and is Creative Director at independent poetry press clinic publishing.

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Follow Sean Roy Parker:

Website: http://seanroyparker.com/
Instagram: @seanroyparker
Twitter: @seanroyparker
Tumblr: https://seanroyparker.tumblr.com/
Ceramics Shop: https://tictail.com/s/seanroyparker