Hidden and Forgotten
Location: Alenquer, Portugal
Project Date: Apr 4, 2022
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None
Size: h x w
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Aerial view of the backyard where the objects were unearthed.
Size: 2234h x 3351w
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Size: h x w
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Plastic bag.
Size: 3520h x 5280w
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Glass bottle.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Piece of extruded polystyrene foam.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Iron lintel.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Glass bottle, plastic bag, and styrofoam inlaid in cement.
Size: 3590h x 5385w
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Bottle cap.
Size: 3341h x 5011w
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Beer can.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Beer can.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Beer can.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Beer can.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Paint roller grip.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Plastic bag.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Wire.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Broken glass bottle.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Bottle can inlaid in cement.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Bottle can inlaid in cement.
Size: 3538h x 5306w
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Broken glass bottle.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Can of soda inlaid in cement.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Can of soda inlaid in cement.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Piece of extruded polystyrene foam.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
Caption:
Piece of extruded polystyrene foam.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Sponge.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Bottle caps.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Natural mineral water bottle opening seal.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Bottle cap.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Bubble gum wrapper.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Plastic casing of silicone gloves.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Tissue paper plastic wrapper.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
Caption:
Tissue paper plastic wrapper.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Plastic tube for electrical cables.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
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Plastic combo.
Size: 3648h x 5472w
Project Text
In March 2020, during the first confinement caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, I took advantage of the time I spent at home with my wife and our 4 children to renovate the small backyard in the back of our house, located on the outskirts of Lisbon.
It involved demolishing an existing structure, tearing up the ground, and deepening the ground a little in one of the corners of the yard. During that year, in a small rectangle measuring 4 by 3 meters, I unearthed dozens and dozens of objects such as cans, bottles, assorted plastics, extruded polystyrene foam, tubes, metal and plastic lids, labels, chewing gum or tissue wrappers, sponges, and even a comb, which, around 21 years later, saw the light of day again. Materials that could and should have been recycled. Some of them with the expiration date still stamped on the label, suggesting that they were left there when the house and the entire neighborhood were built between 1999 and 2000.
In a neighborhood with 96 houses, where identical construction predominates, part of a small town with more than 400 single-family houses, many of them built by the same construction companies, I imagined that this problem would most likely be replicated in some, not to say, all of them.
21 years have passed and a lot has changed since then. Still, surprised by what I found hidden and forgotten under the ground, I can't help but wonder what happens to the garbage produced during the construction phase of a house these days.