Month: September 2020

Atlanta Design Festival Talk

In 2020 I was invited to give an online talk for the Atlanta Design Festival on the subject of waste and how it can be turned into something to be treasured once more in a bid to help us to tackle the global waste crisis and climate change.

‘The annual Atlanta Design Festival is an open platform, ideal for fostering international dialogue on the economic and social impact of design. It provides connection, the free exchange of knowledge, design thinking and community building. Each year the Festival brings together independent designers, established brands, young talent, international speakers from academia, NGOs and government entities, exhibitions, installations and architecture tours – all centered on the economic and societal impact of design. We define this activity as ‘the design economy’ – the direct and indirect value created by those who use design in a wide variety of industries.’ Atlanta Design Festival.

Thinking outside The Box (Crafts Magazine)

All copy as provided to the publication.
Photo credits: The Box

Making It | The Box, Plymouth

From 29 September 2020 | Reviewed by Katie Treggiden

I went to school just up the road from what is now the Box. On a bad day, I would sneak out at lunch time and climb the stairs to what was then the City Museum and Art Gallery, slip between its imposing doors and sit in a hushed gallery in front of one particular painting: a rendition in oil of a stormy sea, hanging in a gilded frame. It provided a sort of balm.

Stepping through the sliding glass doors of the Box more than 20 years later could not feel more different, and not just because the redeveloped building is now home to 2 million objects, from archival records, film and photography to furniture, texts and paintings from multiple collections and institutions, as well as the artworks and natural history I grew up with. Surrounded by the echoes of noisy children, 13 monumental ship figureheads depicting men and women from cultures all over the world hang defiantly in the atrium, speaking of Plymouth’s maritime history and global connections. ‘King Billy’ – a 13ft tall, two-tonne figure of William IV carved in 1833 – stands proudly above the welcome desk, his toe poking through a specially created hole in the glass balustrade. Each one of these figureheads has been painstakingly restored, returning them to their 18th- and 19th-century glory. With as much as 90% of some pieces suffering from wood rot, it’s no wonder the project won a Museums + Heritage Award, celebrating both the traditional craft skills and the cutting-edge technologies, such as sonic tomography, used in their repair.

But the figureheads speak about more than simply craft or even traditional views of their histories. ‘They start conversations about Britain’s colonial history, about how gender and race are represented, and about all the histories that are becoming part of contemporary discourse,’ says curator Terah Walkup. ‘They are a magnificent way to cue people up for what their experience here is going to be like.’

In another bold statement of what’s to come, Eva Grubinger’s Fender is a ‘ready-made’ sculpture that forms part of a multi-site exhibition entitled Making It. Craft historians often cite the appearance of ready-mades in the art world (specifically Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ – a mass produced urinal signed by the artist) as the moment that art and craft parted ways. But here, the giant fender in black vulcanised rubber – once used to prevent ships in the dockyard from bumping up against one another – celebrates Plymouth’s history as a city of seafaring makers. By taking it out of context and dropping it onto a polished concrete floor – where children hurtling past cause it to gently rock back and forth revealing its surprising light weight – the Austrian artist is opening Plymothians’ eyes to something they see every day. ‘Ships navigate the world’s seas and their first contact with Plymouth is one of protection,’ says Walkup. ‘Objects made for use can also connect with contemporary dialogues about politics, people, our relationships with each other and the world around us.’

Much of Making It is off-site. Antony Gormley’s 22-block cast iron figure, Look II, overlooks the point on West Hoe Pier where Sir Francis Chichester landed in 1967 as the first and fastest person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route. Leonor Antunes’ fused glass window is permanently installed over the road at St Luke’s – a deconsecrated church and former library and bookbindery (Crafts, September/October 2020). Ship of Fools, Nigerian-American contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley’s film portraying of a group of young Black men at sea, struggling to reach the land, asks questions about what it means – and what it takes – to ‘make it’ throughout centuries of systemic racism. This installation is at the Levinsky Gallery within the University of Plymouth and the split location approach seems a shame, because it makes it difficult to take the exhibition in as a whole, but it does enable the artworks to connect with people who might not otherwise venture into an art gallery.

Back inside the Box, Brazilian artist Alexandre da Cunha’s Figurehead II is another ready-made sculpture. A stack of four sewer pipes in prefabricated concrete, standing almost 20ft tall, references the much-maligned post-war architecture of the city, while drawing attention to the building itself. The diameter of the structure fits perfectly within a decorative circle in the original floor tiling and the holes punched into its sides offer new vistas of the Edwardian interior. ‘I like seeing people do what I call the “museum dance,” as they bend backwards to look up into this space,’ says Walkup – children climbing in and out of the sculpture’s openings as she speaks.

The Box has taken Plymouth’s City Museum and Art Gallery, Central Library and St Luke’s Church and turned them inside out. What was once the trade entrance on a back alley is now a glorious glass-fronted atrium, opening onto a pedestrianised street. Chronological placement of traditional artworks has been replaced with bold curatorial decisions, such as arranging a series of landscapes of Plymouth geographically, putting Beryl Cook right alongside the Old Masters. The single narrative of old has been replaced by a cacophony of voices, each vying for its rightful place in history. And the stories being told put Plymouth proudly at their heart – taking credit for the good and responsibility for the bad – but never understating the role that this maritime city has played in global history. I am keenly aware of the privilege that enabled me to walk up those austere stairs, slip in through those imposing doors and find solace in a hushed gallery at just 17 years old. I hope a broader segment of society will come into this noisy space, filled with its diversity of stories about craft and making in Plymouth, and find more than just solace. In the same way that Eva Grubinger’s Fender encourages visitors to see something utterly familiar and really look at it for the first time, I hope the Box encourages people to reassess Plymouth’s history, its place in the world, and all those who made it happen.

You can buy Issue 286 of Crafts Magazine here.

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Brutal X-CHAIR for OUT Is 100% Recycled + Fully Circular (Design Milk)

“My exhibition refers to the building of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, which I feel is gentle brutalism,” says Weizenegger. “The architectural design by Rolf Gutbrod is controversial because the internal structure is very restless and there is no space for the actual exhibits. This museum fascinates me because it makes it difficult to exhibit – like life, it challenges you, it doesn’t make it easy for you, you have to get used to it, you have to adjust to it.”

The chair, manufactured by OUT (Objekte Unserer Tage – ‘objects of our days’), is made from 100% recycled polypropylene – unlike many so-called ‘recycled’ plastic chairs on the market which might only contain up to 30% non-virgin materials, and in a move that Weizenegger believes to be an industry first, can be returned to the manufacturer to be ground up and made into another chair at the end of its life. “In view of the ecological situation, we need objects that are produced sustainably and regionally,” Weizenegger says.

As well as being a bold color choice that informs the whole exhibition, the matt black is what enables its eco-credentials. “At the end of the process, all recycled materials are dyed black, making them the darkest shade on the color scale,” explains Weizenegger. “But I could only think of the chair in black. The architectural structure of the chair had to have a strong, bold color, that is reminiscent of black concrete.”

The chair is a multifunctional piece that can be used both inside and outdoors and even as a side table. “The chair has a high sculptural quality and is definitely an object in the room,” says Weizenegger. Due to its weight, the chair is also conceivable in public spaces, such as in parks, pedestrian zones, swimming pools or public roofs.

Atmoism: Designed Atmospheres, An Exhibition by Hermann August Weizenegger is open at the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts (for online ticket holders) until October 01 2020.

To read the article at its source click here.

NA Meets: Tonje Kjellevold (Norwegian Arts)

Tell me about your background – was your childhood creative, what did you study, what drew you to curation?

I was mainly into reading and daydreaming – I’m very creative, as long as I can stay inside my own head! Trying to manifest creativity is an exercise in perpetual disappointment – honing a creative skillset and a unique expression of that is not something I can do, but I enjoy connecting the dots and putting things into systems. That sounds boring, but it’s a useful skill. I never thought about curation, until Adorno approached me – it was such an exciting opportunity that I had to say yes.

The brief for Virtual Design Destination was to reflect on specific experiences, thoughts, and themes from the time of lockdown – what was your initial response to the brief and how does your final curation respond to it?

My initial response was bleak! Lockdown has been challenging for the creative community. But I couldn’t find inspiration in the negatives, so I started thinking about restriction and isolation as spaces where new opportunities could arise. What happens when we direct our focus inward, and how do these five artists navigate their practices with new obstacles in place. My final curation is open to interpretation, but I hope the setting gives the viewer a sense of where we are – in a makerspace.

What gave you the idea to set the virtual exhibition in Kiyoshi Yamamoto’s studio? What does this space represent?

I wanted to focus on the work being made in artists’ studios all over Norway, rather than on finished artworks. Kiyoshi’s studio is the archetypal makers’ space. It’s filled with ever-evolving projects and Kiyoshi is always playing music and lighting candles and explaining what he’s working on. I wanted to bring the other artists into a digital version of this space. There is a sense of ‘in medias res’ – of being plopped into the middle of this setting where incredible things are taking place – and yet the site is abandoned. Jens Peter Jongepier’s composition Dust Moving adds to the feeling of an almost sacred space.

This year’s global pandemic has presented a unique set of challenges for the LDF curation – how did you overcome these?

This is my first curation, so I had the unique privilege of not knowing how things would normally work, but not seeing the works or the space in person was a challenge. Envisioning a 3D-simulation of a studio you have in your mind is also a peculiar type of exercise – but that’s where all my daydreaming experience came in handy! Adorno has an amazing technical team and they put together all the pieces – from modelling the studio to creating moveable models of all the artwork – just the way I envisioned them.

How did you select the five Norway-based artists and makers (Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Karen Klim, Sisse Lee, Ramona Salo and Nathalie Fuica Sanchez) you have chosen?

Nathalie Fuica Sanchez’ work came first because it so clearly connected to restriction. Her textile work is based on weighted blankets – they speak of isolation in a very literal sense, but also convey this emotionally – plus you have a positive connotation of comfort, of sleeping soundly, of a safe space. Kiyoshi Yamamoto and I picked out some of his pieces together. He has been revisiting and reconfiguring artworks during the pandemic, because of difficulty sourcing materials, but his glass works are perfect for that because they come in several pieces. I envisioned Karen Klim’s glass works, perfected through more than 30 years of practice, side by side with Kiyoshi’s, who has started working with glass only recently – and they work so well together. Karen’s biggest inspiration is water, so it was nice to bring her into this space that overlooks the fjord. Many of the other curations are situated within nature, and I wanted my curation to have that connection as well, hence the title, Inside Looking Out. I knew placing Sisse Lee’s ceramic vessels by the window would entice people to ‘walk’ over, and I also imagined the water outside would create a wonderful (virtual) effect on the high gloss surface of the vessels. Finally, Ramona Salo’s clothing underlines this notion of ‘in medias res’. A pair of slippers on the floor, a warm sweater – I wanted it to look as if the artists had just popped out of the room.

How does their work reflect Norway – the landscape, the culture, the contemporary art/design scene? And in what ways are they themselves ‘inside looking out’ to international inspirations and references and to the global art/design scene?

That’s an interesting and difficult question. Landscape one of the aspects of this country that has been highlighted the most, in quite an aggressive way, when communicating Norway to the outside world. Of the artists in this collection Ramona Salo is probably the one who uses the landscape in the most direct way in her artistic practice. She draws inspiration from her upbringing in Sápmi – the ancestral land of the indigenous Sámi peoples that spans Northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, that is under increasing pressure. The artists in this collection all have connections to other countries, places and landscapes, but they have Norway in common. The Norwegian and international artist communities are in constant dialogue, but the pandemic is challenging that. How do we maintain connections and networks when we can’t see each other? We’re all inside looking out.

How have the artists and makers responded to the restriction, isolation and solitude they experienced during lock-down and how does the work in this exhibition reflect this?

The uncertainty of the pandemic has made planning difficult. Artists keep having to stop and start projects, which is not only inefficient, but also demotivating. The situation has made Kiyoshi Yamamoto rethink his production volumes and the amount of art pieces and commissions he is working on. Karen Klim usually works with advanced sandblasted and cutting techniques, so she’s been working with smaller vessels that she can manage herself more easily. Some of these smaller pieces are in the exhibition – they have a softer, more organic look than her more complex works, but they are equally stunning. Artists are used to a complex set of challenges and working in solitude is the norm for many. In some cases, the pandemic has given them more time to experiment. A slower pace might be the new norm for everyone.

Several of the artists and makers reused or repurposed existing work. Might this be an enduring shift beyond the current pandemic?

It’s a natural consequence of material supplies being cut off and equipment being unavailable, that you work with what you have. There is also the financial risk of sourcing and buying new materials when you don’t know where your next job is coming from. That’s when you have to get really creative. I see this resourcefulness and conscientiousness in all five artists’ work, not only as a result of COVID-19, but as a result of having to manage within the artists’ economy. What is really going to allow artists to have sustainable artistic practices is a sustainable financial situation and the current situation has, sadly, not brought us any closer to that.

What messages does the exhibition have for visitors to the London Design Festival?

I hope the exhibition conveys the magic of a makerspace, even in this virtual guise. So few people get to experience the inner workings of artistic creation, so I hope to shed some light on the amazing practices of Kiyoshi, Ramona, Sisse, Karen and Nathalie, and introduce a new audience to them. I also want to highlight that, despite everything being a little crazy and scary right now, wonderful things are still happening in enclosed and tucked away spaces. The contemporary crafts and design field (and indeed the whole visual arts field) is very resilient – and we should celebrate that.

To read the article at its source click here.

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet Turns Seaweed and Fish Skin into Rugs, Fabrics + Leather (Circular by Design, Design Milk)

Tell me a little bit about your childhood, education and background in terms of how you first became interested in creativity, design and sustainability.

Nienke: I grew up in The Hague, a city near the beach in the Netherlands. This is where my love for the beach and the sea started. My mom was always making things: sewing my clothes, building new closets or painting something a new color. I inherited her love of textiles and making. At a young age, she taught me how to use the sewing machine and my creativity could then flow freely. I was a very idealistic child. I raised petitions against animal testing, didn’t want to eat meat from the age of seven… Later, I went to the Willem de Kooning Academy – an art school in Rotterdam – and there I learned more about concept development, research and design. I also realized that art or design can be a way to raise awareness and to tell stories. After just three months, I decided that I wanted to have my own design studio and show the world how, with my designs, I could change it for the better. I started Studio Nienke Hoogvliet immediately after graduating in 2013,

Tim: I also grew up in The Hague. As a child, I was already fascinated by how things work. When I was driving with my parents along the highway I could remember every building project there and could explain the progress they had made since the last time we passed it. This way of looking at things developed into questioning things: “Why are things the way they are?” and “Can’t we do better?” At the faculty of Architecture of TU Delft, I developed my ‘research and design for a better world’ mentality further, gaining my Master’s in 2017. Nienke and I met each other in 2005 (at high school!) and since that time we have grown together and embraced the idea that design is the way to change perspectives.

How would you describe your SEA ME and RE-SEA ME projects?

SEA ME is an ongoing research project into how seaweed could be used as a sustainable alternative for textiles and dyes. The SEA ME rug is made of seaweed yarn, knotted by hand into a discarded fishing net to show the duality of the pollution of the ocean and all the beauty and solutions it could offer. Seaweed is a wonderful material, it doesn’t need freshwater or pesticides or insecticides to grow and it doesn’t take up agricultural land.

RE-SEA ME is another research project into which sustainable materials can be created from the ocean. Fish skin is often wasted by the fishing industry, and it can be turned into beautiful leather. This project wants to raise awareness for the same topic as SEA ME, but it shows another potentially sustainable material from the sea. We made a rug, hand-sewn in a discarded fishing net to show the continuation of the topic. And a stool, to show how strong the fish leather is. It’s one of the amazing qualities that fish leather is actually stronger than ‘regular’ leather since fish have a different type of connective tissue.

What inspired this project?

Nienke’s love for nature and the oceans. The urgency to treat them differently, to stop polluting and to see their beauty and potential.

What waste (and other) materials are you using, how did you select those particular materials and how do you source them?

As well as seaweed and fish skins, we have also collaborated with the Dutch Water Authorities, to work with materials reclaimed or created from wastewater. These include reclaimed toilet paper and bio-plastic made from the bacteria that clean the wastewater. Those collaborations were super interesting and we never expected that even wastewater could be such an interesting source of raw materials. It’s very important to show, that even such strange – and let’s be honest dirty, materials can have so much value. If people realized and accepted this, the change to recycling more materials would be easier to make.

When did you first become interested in using waste as raw material and what motivated this decision?

It was never our goal to use waste – we work from a holistic point of view, which means that we try to take all aspects around a production process into consideration. That often leads to the realization that somewhere in the process, valuable material is not being used. To close that circle, it makes sense to use that material.

What processes do the materials have to undergo to become the finished product?

The fish skin is turned into leather through natural tanning. We wrote a book, Fish Leather, to explain the process, so everyone can learn how to do it and it’s actually very easy – it just requires oils and lots of manual labor. For the seaweed it’s more complicated, it requires machines and cannot be done by hand. But the waste from one process can be used for another application, as we showed in the SEA ME Collection. The seating of the chair is made from seaweed yarn, the ‘waste’ of that process is made into a textile dye and is used to dye the seating, the leftovers of the dyeing process are used to create a regular paint for the tabletop, and a bioplastic like material. We fully use the seaweed and have no waste left.

What happens to your products at the end of their life – can they go back into the circular economy?

When they cannot be re-used or recycled anymore, they can be composted and this way they can become food for the soil again. All the materials are biodegradable.

How did you feel the first time you saw the transformation from waste material to product/prototype?

When you are doing research and experimenting, the change from waste material to product happens slowly and gradually. At first, you are only paying attention to all the things that don’t work. When you are mastering a material more and more, you start to see the potential and that’s when you get excited. Sometimes it can still feel strange, for example, Nienke is scared of fish and during the tanning sometimes she still feels a bit disgusted, but when the end product is complete, it feels great to have given value back to something, so it’s all worth it in the end.

How have people reacted to this project?

We received so many positive responses! Everyone always wonders if the products smell (they don’t!) and they are amazed by the qualities and properties of the materials. We think we have changed a lot of perspectives and are looking forward to continuing to do that with all our projects.

How do you feel opinions towards waste as a raw material are changing?

They are changing for sure. More and more people realize that we cannot maintain this linear economy and that we have to look into the possibilities of waste as a material. But even more important, more people understand that – and why – we should move towards a circular economy. It is not just about reusing waste, it’s about looking at processes with the aim to not exhaust the planet, the people or the animals. Reusing waste is one of the solutions, but we need to think further, deeper and in circles. We can see that awareness is starting to arise.

What do you think the future holds for waste as a raw material?

We hope that it will become normal to use waste as a raw material and that there will be no more waste – just more resources.

Product photos by Femke Poort.
Process photos by Hannah Braeken.

To read the article at its source click here, or find out more about Studio Nienke here.

Studio Rope Turns Dust From Stone Processing Into Pottery Glazes (Circular by Design, Design Milk)

Tell me a little bit about your childhood, education and background in terms of how you first became interested in creativity, design and sustainability.

I was born in Shizuoka, Japan. My hometown was rich in nature and I spent a lot of time in the forest. When I was nine years old, I made a wooden chair for my father, which was my first design experience. Because of this childhood, I am naturally interested in creativity, design and sustainability and those interests have a strong influence on my own current works. I hold Master’s Degree in product design from ECAL and work in a design studio in Germany at this moment.

How would you describe your Stone Pottery project?

“Any waste can be special,” The Stone pottery project started with this phrase. In general, stone factories have a huge quantity of stone powder, which is made by the machining of cutting, grinding, drilling and milling process for stones. Usually, it would have been turned into urban road material. However, I felt there was a lot of potential with this material, in other uses. Through the material investigation, I figured out that this waste undergoes a special reaction after the baking process – a foaming phenomenon. And then I decided to use the reaction as a special glaze on the surface of pottery which provides a satisfying grip and heat insulation. In the end, I designed a family of coffee cup and a carafe, as examples, to visualize these material characteristics.

What inspired this project?

A traditionally-made glaze from raw material.

What waste (and other) materials are you using, how did you select those particular materials and how do you source them?

I sourced waste stone powder from a stone processing factory based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

When did you first become interested in using waste as raw material and what motivated this decision?

I had noticed this waste when I visited the factory coincidentally. At that time, I knew that many minerals are used in traditional glazes, so I felt the same potential with stone powder of marble or natural stones.

What processes do the materials have to undergo to become the finished product?

First, we had to build a good partnership between a particular pottery manufacturer and stone factories. And it was also necessary to put in place a mechanism that enables stable production as a new type of glaze.

What happens to your products at the end of their life – can they go back into the circular economy?

In this project, the final product is the glaze made out of stone powder waste. The project extends the lifespan of the waste before it becomes urban road material, which is not really part of the circular economy but it is valuable. The circular economy argues for keeping materials in use indefinitely – this project extends the period of time for which this is possible.

How did you feel the first time you saw the transformation from waste material to product/prototype?

I felt that my prediction of potential went in the right direction. However, I also felt there were many barriers to realize it. In fact, this project is still a prototype and has not yet been realized in society.

How have people reacted to this project?

I have received some collaboration inquiries from porcelain manufacturers but to build a good partnership between stone factories can be a big barrier for this project, in terms of investment.

How do you feel opinions towards waste as a raw material are changing?

To be used as a raw material, waste often needs a lot of processing, which adds to the production costs in general. That means that in order to use waste, we have to present a special value beyond the processing cost. Actually this realistic opinion hasn’t changed a lot. The use of waste can only be moved forward by accumulating special value creation cases.

What do you think the future holds for waste as a raw material?

I feel there is a huge opportunity. In fact, many designers are realizing great designs with waste raw materials.

To read the article at its source click here, or find out more about Studio Rope here.

Month: September 2020

Atlanta Design Festival Talk

Thinking outside The Box (Crafts Magazine)

Brutal X-CHAIR for OUT Is 100% Recycled + Fully Circular (Design Milk)

NA Meets: Tonje Kjellevold (Norwegian Arts)

Studio Nienke Hoogvliet Turns Seaweed and Fish Skin into Rugs, Fabrics + Leather (Circular by Design, Design Milk)

Studio Rope Turns Dust From Stone Processing Into Pottery Glazes (Circular by Design, Design Milk)

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