Left Out
2015 – 2016
Dimensions: 60cm (W) x 60cm (H) x 60cm (L)
Materials: Hollow jesmonite cast encased in a bin liner
Left Out developed from an almost insignificant experience when Maxwell appologised to a bin bag which he thought, for a split second, was as a homeless person after tripping over it whilst walking out a doorway.
As an experiment of bystander intervention, Maxwell placed the original sculpture of Left Out on various streets in London and filmed the public’s reaction as they passed, some stopping to investigate what they thought was a person in a bin-bag, others simply walking on.
“It’s a message about people being disposable. It’s quite a shocking image. It’s the idea we see homeless people like garbage, it’s challenging.”
- Passer-by, Westminster Bridge.
In October 2019 Maxwell was commissioned by homelessness charity, The Wallich, to create a series of sculptures made from casts of previously homelessness people - the casts were placed in bin bags and placed around the city.