Reaction to this milk bottle project has come as a bit of a shock to me. The project started out as something I was doing for myself, and so the immediate interest received, from such a wide audience, and the Press, has been a little overwhelming. Still, I thought I should write a bit about it in my own words.

I have been engraving milk bottles with various different images and leaving them on random doorsteps.

I like the idea of finding Art in unusual places. It’s happened to me a few times, and when I get to see these special sights it makes me feel privileged, like I’ve been trusted with a really excellent secret, or I’ve been chosen for something exciting that most people don’t grasp. I wanted to make others feel the same way. Be it the person who notices this bottle on their doorstep, or the milkman, or the dairy worker who wonders what’s going on, or the “chav” walking past and seeing an empty milk bottle that they want to steal! I like the idea of making people do a double take when they notice something new.

I’ve been thinking about why some glass is considered precious, yet some is discarded like it’s nothing. It seems that every family has a special set of glasses that are either never used, or just kept for special occasions, like Christmas, or for that imaginary time when the Queen may break down outside and need a chilled beverage. It always struck me that whenever I used these ‘special’ glasses I was always too nervous using them to enjoy the experience. As a glass maker myself I find this really frustrating. I’ve spent a lot of my life learning how to make glass which can be functional and beautiful and to find them relegated to the cupboard is sad.

Yet there is another level of glass that we take for granted. Functional everyday ware that we care so little for, and is simply discarded. This is the same material, yet we look at it in such a different way. I love the idea of taking this so familiar item of glass and elevating it to the level of Art. I imagine the well lit ornament cabinet, and inside a piece of cut crystal sitting next to an old milk bottle. Classic.

I think part of my fondness for the bottles is due to the fact that they hark back to my childhood. I remember my familys’ milk being delivered by horse and cart…. I’m not that old, I just grew up in a slightly old fashioned village who cherished their milkman.

Before recycling was expected, milk bottles were recycled regularly as a matter of course. Leaving them on the doorstep was fine, other than when they froze and pushed the foil cap off the top (though I have to admit that as a child, I was enthralled by this).

The aim of this project was firstly to have a bit of fun. To release art into “ the world” and see what would happen. If I introduced something new into the communal glass arena, being moved from one person to another, would it open peoples’ eyes to more of the everyday stuff around them? Would it make people giggle? Would I make the milkman paranoid at the graffiti, and would it get back to the dairy? I am now curious to see what will happen.

If you see one of my engraved bottles, (or have bought one on ebay!) I would love to hear from you.

info@charlottehughesmartin.com

Here are some links to various different news things

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1060291/Identity-Milk-Bottle-Banksy-revealed-The-artist-decorates-empties-returning-doorstep.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtmlxml=/arts/2008/09/24/babottles124.xml

www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/09/24/bottle-banksy-the-artist-who-decorates-milk-empties-115875-20750290/

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1726302.ece

www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/image_galleries/bc_photos_july_gallery.shtml?6

www.dudley.gov.uk/welcome/news-in-dudley/july-2008/11---art--milk-makes-great-shakes-at-cone-

www.expressandstar.com/2008/07/17/art-on-doorstep-as-glass-talent-bottled/

| created at www.mrsite.com