Garbo Loves It Here
Garbo Loves It Here is an ongoing collaborative performative photography project of mixed-media artist Katya Popova and photographer Mari Saxon about overconsumption and the quiet omnipresence of plastic waste.
The embodiment of plastic pollution takes the form of Garbo — a playful, human-like figure made of waste, a creation of Boston-based artist Katya Popova. Wandering through picturesque landscapes and urban scenes, Garbo becomes both part of the scenery and a disturbance within it. Garbo walks, rests, enjoys the view, and seems entirely at home, calmly and readily occupying the space among people.
Plastic has long stopped feeling foreign. It surrounds us, fills our routines, and settles comfortably into the environment. Garbo reflects that ease. The jester-like figure does not interrupt daily life; it joins it. Garbo loves it here; the more unsettling question is whether we feel the same ease sharing the space with him.
The visual language of the series is my way of speaking with humor, irony, and lightness about the difficult and embarrassing subject of plastic overconsumption. I use absurd imagery and references to classical art so that the narrative does not slip into moralizing or intimidation. Instead, it becomes a playful reminder and an unostentatious question: are we truly comfortable living side by side with Garbo? Are we ready to continue sharing our landscapes and habitats with him?
The embodiment of plastic pollution takes the form of Garbo — a playful, human-like figure made of waste, a creation of Boston-based artist Katya Popova. Wandering through picturesque landscapes and urban scenes, Garbo becomes both part of the scenery and a disturbance within it. Garbo walks, rests, enjoys the view, and seems entirely at home, calmly and readily occupying the space among people.
Plastic has long stopped feeling foreign. It surrounds us, fills our routines, and settles comfortably into the environment. Garbo reflects that ease. The jester-like figure does not interrupt daily life; it joins it. Garbo loves it here; the more unsettling question is whether we feel the same ease sharing the space with him.
The visual language of the series is my way of speaking with humor, irony, and lightness about the difficult and embarrassing subject of plastic overconsumption. I use absurd imagery and references to classical art so that the narrative does not slip into moralizing or intimidation. Instead, it becomes a playful reminder and an unostentatious question: are we truly comfortable living side by side with Garbo? Are we ready to continue sharing our landscapes and habitats with him?
