Paris
edition 300
hand numbered and hand bound
21 cm x 29.7 cm
12  C Prints  11 x 15 cm on Fujifilm paper
GMund Cotton, Biotop
28 pages
Dark Editions # 05    © 2026

This publication contains twelve C prints, that are loosely mounted on the top side of each image.

The photos were taken during the garbage collectors’ strike in Paris in 2023, which lasted for over three weeks. Gradually, the streets filled up with piles of rubbish and other waste, forming small urban mountains on the corners of almost every street. During her two-month residency at Cité des Arts, van Ark was confronted day by day with the changing street view. Everyone was affected by it, yet people seemed undisturbed by the growing obstacles and kept on consuming which became evident in the piles. Luxury bags were morphing together with fast fashion brands – highbrow and lowbrow were meeting in these piles – van Ark zoomed in on the contrast between the different symbols of value.

The result is a series of images oscillating between documentation and abstraction. They are elusive with a painterly attention to composition and colour. Fragments of logos, packaging and luxury brands emerge from the piles as relics of contemporary culture.

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