Ten shopping lists found while working in a supermarket during the pandemic.
2021

As our world changed during the pandemic, our shopping lists began reflecting these changes too. For this project, I’ve created a new series of ten ceramic sculptures based on shopping lists I found while working as a supermarket cleaner during Melbourne’s 2020 lockdowns.

The sculptures are presented here alongside photos of the actual found shopping lists they were based on.

Most lists are written quickly, unlike ceramic which is a very slow medium, and it’s through the act of slowly recreating these lists that I allowed myself the time and space to reflect on them.

Created for the touring exhibition 52 Actions, with the generous support of Artspace in Sydney.

This series has been acquired by the City of Melbourne Art and Herritage Collection and has now found a permanent home in Melbourne Town Hall.

This is the first time I’d ever seen ‘hand sanitizers’ on a shopping list.

This is the first time I’d found a shopping list that says ‘Chocolates for neighbour’.

One of the positive things we saw during the pandemic is the many ways we were looking out for each other, becoming more caring to those around us.

(I’d hoped that this shopping list might’ve been written by my neighbour, but sadly I received no chocolates. Maybe next lockdown.)

This shopping list was written during the peak of empty shelves and panic buying, and so this is the first time I found a list where the person writing it had included alternate options if their first preference wasn’t in stock, by writing things like ‘Get pkt Rice if you can’ and ‘6 pkts Butter Chicken D.F. or Something else.’

One of the only places we were allowed to go during the lockdowns was the supermarket, and so it became quite the hangout destination. I noticed that many of the shopping lists I found at this time became increasingly shorter as people, looking for any excuse to leave the house, would spread out their weekly shop over several days.

During the intense busyness of the pandemic, our supermarket began opening an hour early but only for people with a pensioner card. This next shopping list is one I found during the ‘early hour’. It was the first time I’d seen a list that had ‘newspapers'.

I think for many the newspaper became a reliable place to stay connected with how the world was coping, as well to get updates on current restrictions and daily case numbers. Either that or they just wanted newspapers so they can do the quiz.

With schools closed, there was an increase in shopping lists written by children. Here’s a ceramic sculpture of a shopping list I found written on the back of some maths homeschooling.

What I love most about this list is that while lots of people wanted a cat or a dog during lockdown, this person wanted a ‘chese biscat’ and a ‘pup pastri’.

During the lockdowns, a lot of people found themselves with a bit more time to meal plan.

This is the first time I’d seen a list where someone had planned ahead all their afternoon teas, as well as the usual breakfast, lunch and dinners.

Working as a supermarket cleaner during Melbourne’s lockdown, I was officially called a ‘frontline worker’. My shifts started at 5am so I was given a permit exemption that allowed me to travel outside of the 6am curfew, and I was also able to travel outside of my 5km limit to get to work.

It felt funny to be called a frontline worker - there was doctors, nurses, and then also me, mopping up spilled pasta sauce in aisle 9.

I wasn’t the only one doing lots of cleaning though, we were all very scared about the spreading of germs. Here’s a list I found by someone who also appeared to be trying to sterilise their home.

I felt lucky to be able to leave my house to go to work. Here’s a shopping list I found written by someone who had to turn their home into an office.

To help cope with the difficulties of the pandemic, many people tried out new hobbies, like giving themselves haircuts, adopting pets, and giving their pets haircuts.

This last shopping list in this series is one I found that was written by someone who wanted a painting set. I really hope they got their painting set, I know how much painting has always helped me.