Wastiary , or Bestiary of Waste, is a creative exercise that occupies letters, numbers, and symbols of Western academic language to compose a list of 35 short entries on the uncomfortable but pressing topic of waste in the contemporary world. The collection is richly illustrated with artwork, photography, collage and mixed media. The book is a heterodox compendium of 'beasts of waste', playfully re-imagining the medieval treatise on various kinds of animal. It conveys the message that various forms of waste and pollution have achieved a beast-like or untameable quality, at times pungently transferring to considerations of 'the human', or humans treated as waste. <strong>Praise for Wastiary </strong> ' Wastiary is a rich, stimulating and beautifully composed volume, not least courtesy of a very welcome emphasis on the visual. The comprehensiveness and variety of views, styles of writing, as much as disciplinary stances, and the embedded diversity of the book make for a recognisable intervention into waste/discard studies that can certainly capture the eye of the expert but also pique the appetite of the novice.' Michele Acuto, University of Melbourne |