MUTOID WASTE COMPANY
An ongoing photographic project about a crazy, genius bunch of cyberpunk, scrap metal artists also known as Mutoid Waste Company.
The Mutoid Waste Company is a renowned art collective founded in England by Joe Rush, a punk artist, and Robin Cooke, a hippy mechanic. Emerging in the mid-80s from the English Travelers movement, the group is known for its radical approach to creating art from industrial waste and discarded materials. Their installations often feature massive sculptures, cyberpunk robots, and MadMax-inspired vehicles, crafted from scrap metal and plastic, transforming industrial debris into visually striking pieces that challenge societal norms, emphasizing themes of environmentalism, and strongly criticizing war and consumerism. Over the years, the collective became synonymous with the transformation of free festivals into the early rave culture, contributing iconic stages, visual performances, and spectacles with apocalyptic aesthetics to the first warehouse parties. Facing the increasing repression of the subcultures in Thatcher’s England, in 1989 the group took the roads to undertake a tour that comprised Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and Italy, where a part of the group established Mutonia, a permanent base in Santarcangelo. The Mutoid Waste Co. left a deep mark in the underground culture of every single place they visited, meeting collaborators, involving new members, and running new projects, always on the move spreading the DIY philosophy. Their installations astound masses of people all over the world at festivals like Glastonbury, Fuji, and Burning Man just to mention a few. Despite facing challenges with the authorities in the past, and fast-changing cultural landscapes, nowadays the Mutoid Waste Company continues to evolve and mutate, leaving a lasting impact on the art world, inspiring generations of artists and cultural rebels globally.
This body of work, far from being a complete anthology of the Mutoid Waste Company’s story and art, is an attempt to give a glimpse of the creative process, and the ingenuity that led to the creation of such brilliant pieces. The project aims to portray the protagonists of the Mutoid Waste Company in their natural environment, their workshop, alongside a selection of the best pieces created by each artist and some archive photos from the 90s, to provide a wide overview of the Mutoid’s artistic production.
JOE RUSH – London – UK
GILES WALKER – London – UK
DEBS/WREKON – Bromyard – UK
STRAPPER/WREKON – Bromyard – UK
LYLE “DOGHEAD” ROWELL – Mutonia – IT
SAM HAGGARTY – Findon – UK
LU LUPAN – Mutonia – IT
IAIN COILEY – Taunton – UK
KOLJA KUGLER – Berlin – DE
ALEX “WRECKAGE” WRIGHT – London – UK
NIKKI RODGERSON/RIFIUTILE – Mutonia – IT
JAMES KEARNEY – Edenbridge – UK
JOHNNY “ELECTROLUX” MacAULAY – London – UK
ANDY MacFARLANE – Mutonia – IT
TOMMASO “TOMA” MALTONI – Mutonia – IT
ALLEGRA CORBO – Ancona – IT
