Once upon a time humans lived here. There are things they left behind.

Georgio De Chirico’s paintings often showed a heightened level of sensitivity by creating narratives that were ‘outside’ the artwork. Sometimes the narratives referred to the past or the future, or the power of an object itself. Despite painting a shadow or empty space there was a special level of humanity in his work; a focus on memory.

In Stephen’s paintings the bag and its shadow is a way of signifying memory. The bag is the most simple way of carrying things. Some are elaborate, beautiful works of technological engineering. Others are fundamentally simple, cheap and made of paper while others reflect works of art and high fashion. We mostly use them when we move about; smaller ones during our day to day lives; bigger ones when we travel further afield. We have often seen a discarded bag. They appear lonely in a De Chirico kind of ‘forgotten’ way. Were they discarded purposefully or by accident or some sort of mishap? Every object usually has a story. Every individual has a story too; they have some form of ‘baggage’, so the saying goes. So does society. The bag and its contents is a type of historical footprint, a container of memories; concealed evidence and perhaps a reflection of ourselves as individuals and as a society.

As a society it’s fair to say that we ought to consider what we leave behind us for future generations. Will it be positive? The future generation doesn’t have much of a choice. In contrast the current generation does have a choice. What should we put in the bag, what sort of bag is it, and would it’s contents be useful?