Junkmail art

An artist has created an unusual exhibit in her Tyneside garden out of unwanted junk mail. Anne Cohen, 54, from Newcastle, has placed all her hand-delivered junk mail on a large metal spike outside her front door.

She started on 1 January and now the artwork is over 5ft tall.

The mother-of-four said she came up with the idea to get people talking about the volume of junk mail delivered in her neighbourhood. Mrs Cohen graduated in design and public art from the Chelsea College of Art and Design and then took an MA at Sunderland University in art and the environment.

She said once the piece is finished she hoped to spray and preserve it so that it can go on display in a gallery. She added: "We just get so much junk mail. We're totally inundated. There are lots of students around here so we get masses of takeaway leaflets in particular. I'm using art as a tool to start a debate. I just want to show things up and people can come to their own conclusions. I've had lots of comments from people who think it's a good idea."

Mrs Cohen plans to continue adding to the pile until the end of December, because she wants to find out just how much junk mail one household receives in a year.