Poubelle de Jour sees the iconic K6 phone box subjected to an exaggerated degradation and deterioration: hundreds of thousands of prostitute calling cards fill the red booth, each displaying mobile phone numbers, their graphic and explicit images jostling to attract attention. In order to create this fetishistic artwork, Long spent two years collecting the large volume of colourful cards from London phone booths. By accumulating his collection in one kiosk, the romanticised K6 becomes phallic and libidinally charged; an absurd object no longer able to accommodate its original function.


The title, Poubelle de Jour, recalls the 1928 novel Belle de Jour (Beauty of the Day) by Joseph Kessel and the famous film of the same name starring Catherine Deneuve. Poubelle (dustbin) not only introduces word-play, but is also a direct reference to the 1960's Nouveau Realist sculptor Arman, who filled clear perspex cases with carefully selected household rubbish. In Long's homage to Arman, the encapsulated ephemera offer a comprehensive survey of the professional sex industry, demonstrating the growth in demand for one service in contrast with the decline for another.