Rochester, a British longhorn bull, for which 5,000 clothing labels were used
Joy Pitts creates artworks from recycled woven clothes labels and dressmakers’ pins, a unique and quirky occupation that has garnered press attention and awards. It all began with the garments themselves: ‘I was just mesmerised with materials, and dissecting garments and destroying them. I don’t really know why. I was left with lots of labels and thought ‘what can I do with these’ so ended up sticking them on a Tesco shopping bag and entering Shopping Bag into the Slug and Lettuce Bar Culture competition. It won the local prize and the national prize [in 2003].’ Like much of Joy’s art, it’s a thought-provoking comment on our throwaway society.