TURF issue one
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issue 1 may 16 04 the story 05 contributors 06 this is an article about the environment art/activism 10 ella goerner 12 glacier girl 14 claudia borgna 18 this changes everything fashion 20 TURF vs. fast fashion 22 the fast fashion alternate guide 24 fashion revolution mix + match 26 TURF>iceland 36 ban the microbead 38 de-flowered 48 check it out 49 contribute
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the story
Scouring the internet for ecological articles/imagery that I find both appealing and digestible (fashion student here, not science) proves very difficult. The lack of environmental coverage available in my usual youth culture reads is disconcerting to me... and that’s how TURF came about. Let’s talk about Green; the colour of nature, recycling & kale. I decided in order to establish TURF as a unique eco-publication, I would have to banish green (sorry green.) There is this negative stigma behind being eco-friendly - dreadlock growing, sandal wearing, tree hugging - and the colour green was not helping. Taking TURF in an artistic direction rather than scientific was obvious to me, in order to shake off the stereotypes around environmentalism.
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Along the way I spoke to a number of inspiring women that establish ecology into art and fashion, voicing repressed environmental issues and constructing an opportunity for change. These artists allowed me to view ecology as an economical issue and a philosophical issue, which I hope to translate to you. TURF is here to educate - raise questions, create discussion and forward a movement. enjoy the issue corrie
with thanks to matthew innes
ella goerner
elizabeth farrell
claudia borgna
rebecca hawkes
orsola de castro
slow factory
nobody’s child
the deep end club
girlfriend collective
the field
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THIS IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
In 2006, Vanity Fair magazine made a promise of annual environmental exposure in a glossy magazine, reaching a large worldwide readership; The Green Issue. The typical fashion, lifestyle and current affair articles were green-washed, with each yearly issue using an appropriate celebrity to cover star; past years including Julia Roberts, Leonardo Dicaprio and George Clooney. 2008 saw Queen of Pop Madonna featured as the cover star...hold up...Madonna? With a spending habit of 10,000 dollars a month on bottled water, investments in oil exploration and a carbon footprint at 100 times the average Brit, Madonna is hardly the ideal cover girl for an environmental awareness issue. After their three year stint of good intentions and questionable celebrity endorsement, the yearly special edition died out after 2008, with Vanity Fair releasing a statement claiming they are “committed to covering the environment, and we’ll spread our coverage throughout the year, instead of relegating the bulk of it to a specific issue.”
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A familiar sounding turn of events, illustrating how mainstream media struggles to include environmental issues as a topic of interest, and often ‘being green,’ is just a pathetic attempt a publication with take to improve their readers perception, ending up reducing the issues at hand to just a fad.
also largely valued on getting the reader to consume - to want to buy whichever product they are promoting. Issues such as gender, sexuality, race fit into the cultural norm of the movement and educate the reader, however they don’t ever tell the reader to stop buying, stop consuming.
“Fashion has used its power to communicate awareness of fringe movements, such as gender equality, gay rights, AIDS, yet since 1988, when scientists first started raising the alarm about carbon emissions, we haven’t been able to own our role in pollution, fair trade or global warming.” Youth culture publications (to name drop a few: dazed & confused, vice) act as a reliable news source, perhaps even a bible to 21st century millennials, covering interesting current issues exploring adult themes that differ from your glossy fashion magazines. Yet when scouring through these magazines and their respective websites, there is not a glimmer of easily digestible information on environmental issues, that the reader can relate to then act upon. It seems the environment isn’t a pressing enough issue in the media, and sustainable living has little chance to withhold as a movement with the lack of awareness currently spread of the issue. I spoke to Kate Fletcher (professor, author and eco-activist) asking her thoughts on why the environment isn’t an issue covered, she responded: “I think that the perception, if you’re dealing with these environmental questions is that it’s going to damage the comfort level of your life, so they (the consumer) perceive it to be not being able to buy all the items they want, puncturing the culture of comfort that is associated with consumerism.” In theory, the media’s role is to educate and inform, but is
If magazines were to raise uncomfortable questions to the readers, they are essentially asking us to change our behaviour, and we may respond by not consuming as much. With an internet phenomenon wishing his success, 2016 sees Leonardo DiCaprio ‘finally’ winning an Oscar award for Best Actor. The much awaited moment was watched by millions worldwide, Leo took the opportunity to use his acceptance speech to address climate change. “Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.” Following his speech saw a online flood of inspired fans applauding him. However often the celebritisation of climate change can reduce issues to just a trend, a fad, accepted and applauded by the people initially, but soon forgotten when something else comes along. What is needed is a strong and consistent current of environment awareness in the media and throughout popular culture. Sustainable living needs to be normalised, and become an integral part of the news agenda, not a hot-minute.
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ELLA GOERNER Environmentalist, Artist, #Ecopunk. Berlin based Ella Goerner’s work is concerned with environmentalism in society and the need for eco innovations. Interested in the promotion of green utopias and dystopias Goerner investigates into current developments in environmental studies, financial systems, technological developments and social change. Goerners installations are interested in the elements of aesthetics that deal with environmental concerns and or the visual key aspects of product marketing that transfer her art into commodities for a market of this doomed world. Her works are a critical reflection of contemporary environmental speculations and relations.
environment are translated into works for a new dystopia or better: are reflecting the status quo with ambivalent means. Prevailing in her work is the stylistic means of language of advertising, infographics and contemporary design. ‘Meditation of the Economy’ (pictured here) approaches the dilemna of our quest for a sustainable lifestyle in the typical sense (buying consciously, producing less waste) what happens if we look into the most abstract, unassosciated corners for ecologic vision, such as the financial market. What happens if you match human data driven worlds with an assigned natural counterpart to see if there is actually an cross-linkage we didn’t consider? @ellagoerner
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The aesthetic of her work is bright, colourful and dreamy. Using materials like striking prints and plastics, ubiquitous objects of our everyday
#ecopunk “the term is alluring and offers a specific kind of symbolism, proposing that you are not just accepting the binary codex of a good/bad mentality of what ecology or an ecologic action could be.�
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GLACIER GIRL Elizabeth Farrell reinvents the ecofriendly aesthetic and challenges the traditional activist stereotype, using Tumblr as a platform to raise climate change awareness to the iGeneration and uncountable generations to come.
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Her most recent work (pictured right) is in response to Parley for the Oceans, (the movement addressing threats towards our oceans) and COP21 Paris (the political convention for action to climate change held 2015.) Her DIY print clothing and staged photoshoots follow the ‘sad girl’ tumblr aesthetic, creating a new depth by incorporating the issues of climate change into her work.
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“If the Oceans Die, We Die.”
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glacier996girl.tumblr.com @glacier996girl
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CLAUDIA BORGNA Through installation, performance and video art, Claudia explores the political, social and environmental functions of art making. Her work is an ongoing observation questioning how the “plastic” and the natural realms interact with one another by creating new ephemeral structures and orders. Artist Statement: Traveling around I have come to realize that we are living in a world that overflows with waste. This was the starting point that led me to investigate the relationship between discarded materials, such as plastic bags, and the environment. In the past years I have been looking at how rubbish and man made objects are very much transforming and create new landscapes and becoming more and more integrated into nature. This process, which I call “the evolution of landscape”, and that is generated by our modern lifestyle and consumption, I find very interesting to observe.
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Plastic bags epitomize the perfect and quintessential discarded object. To me the plastic bag is the symbolic embryo that contains our lifestyle and is the vessel that carries it out in its journey. I find plastic bags interesting because of their remarkable contradictory qualities. Plastic bags are in fact both worthless and useful, disposable and recyclable, flimsy and strong, ephemeral and eternal, but above all they are universal. By putting the plastic bag in an artistic context I would like to elevate it to another dimension that takes it away from the idea of the banal and obvious and for an instant transforms it into a poetic object. In other words it becomes an inspiring muse. A mass-produced muse with forms, lines and colour, that can’t help but interact with the surrounding environment. www.claudiaborgna.com
SHIPWRECKED: MY LIFE FOR A BAG One thousand recycled plastic bags, filled with water and suspended in mid air.
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18 2008 A.D. SOON IT WILL BE ALL OVER
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Newcross and Deptford Free Film Festival 23/04/16 @ The Field, New Cross As a part of New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival, The Field presents ‘This Changes Everything’, inspired by Naomi Klein’s international bestseller, directed by Avi Lewis Hosted in The Field, New Cross - a small community space for groups addressing oppression & injustice - This Changes Everything was one of the many free films available across South East London this April. The 2015 documentary presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front line of activism, interwoven with Klein’s narrative idea; that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better. Klein narrates directly from her book throughout the film; she confesses “I’ve always kind of hated films about climate change,” reiterating that This Changes Everything is not a film about polar bears. Instead, we follow real people from various countries, exposed to their struggle at the receiving end of huge scale capitalist pollution, and their fight against the threats to their livelihood, employment and hometowns. The film itself was insightful, inspiring, succeeding it’s aim to empower its audience rather than scare. Once finished, then begun an open discussion questioning our interpretation of the film. South East London locals shared stories in which they have actively campaigned in their area, tackling issues on a small scale rather than worldwide. We discussed the importance of ‘Transition Town’s’ - grassroots community projects that seek to build resilience in response to climate destruction and economic instability, doing so by creating local groups that uphold the values of the transition network. Overall the film and following discussion left me with a realisation of the importance of small scale activism, lobbying within a community, where progress can be more successful and rewarding than bigger projects. 19
TURF vs fast fashion
Fashion garment production in Britain today is a thing of the past. Textile production has doubled over the past thirty years, so inevitably gone are the days of cotton production in local mills across Northern England. With advances in technology & rise in population over those 30 years it’s only natural for production to increase, and there’s a great deal of assumption that fashion has moved into this high-tech zone with garments produced by pollution-free processes. 20
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It has not, it has merely been naive to the chemicals it takes for the natural world, capital has no strongly swept under a rug, that rug being various developing countries across the globe. The essential chemicals and processes used in fashion production hasn’t significantly changed over the past century, they just takes place thousands of miles away from where it is retailed. We know that fashion production no longer exists inside the UK, we’re aware of the “made in bangladesh” label that adorns our £5 t-shirt; yet we still have this compulsion to buy into fast fashion without much consideration of the damage it is causing worldwide. Lets look at cotton, the most important non-food agriculture worldwide; check your labels and you’re probably wearing it. It takes 20,000 litres of water to create one t-shirt and a pair of jeans. (The Impact of Cotton Fresh Water Resources & Ecosystems, WWF.) It’s deeply ironic that cotton production occurs in some of the most water scarce areas on earth. Infact a product thought of by the consumer as ‘comfortingly natural’ - being a plant based fibre - cotton uses 16% of the world’s insecticides and pesticides. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter worldwide (first prize goes to oil) and through water consumption and air pollution, cotton is a frontier to this damage. The western world may be safe from agrichemical pollution, but government authorities in the developing world have seemed to have turned a blind eye for the use of hazardous chemicals to its own farmers, finding a welcoming market in West Africa and India. With an estimated 27 million cotton farmers worldwide and ¾ of those in developing countries, as many as 40,000 cotton workers die each year from pesticide poisoning. We’re guilty of perceiving cotton to be this green, ecofriendly fibre because it comes from the ground, remaining blissfully
cotton to be mass produced, and limits on its expansion and growth. the subsequent deaths of cotton Therefore it is imperative for huge farmers worldwide. systemic changes to occur so that the current unsustainable ways of Go Organic? production stops growing, and Despite its obvious qualities if brands aren’t actively creating to workers and planet welfare, sustainable solutions then it’s on organic cotton is still a niche us. market in the fashion industry, It is incredibly optimistic to accounting to less than 1% of wish for unsustainable fast fashion garment production. Within fair production to be completely trade brands, organic cotton has a stopped, but its pace needs to clear, strong movement, however slow down. Without a reduction in fast fashion - our beloved high consumption a collective solution street stores - have little organic to the problem will not be found, cotton to account for. and the health of the planet will Scandinavian brand H&M continue to decline. have made a start, dipped a toe in the organic cotton pool to say, but are yet to take the full plunge. Being the largest buyer of organic cotton worldwide, H&M have precipitated action, committing in their sustainability statement to aim to use entirely organic cotton by 2020. Meanwhile in 2016, ‘H&M Conscious’ (look for the green label) can offer you organic garments, sold alongside H&M’s ‘regular’ unethical, the latter being not only cheaper but usually more stylish! Which would you pick? Fast Fashion needs an entire reboot. This isn’t just a H&M name and shame. Topshop, ASOS, Primark etc, they are all locked into the same system; they are expendable. Cheap fashion means replaceable fashion, and the principle of having both sustainable and unsustainable products for sale undermines the value of the H&M Sustain garment because people will still view it as disposable fast fashion, encouraging more consumption.So as consumers, what choices can we make? Every time you buy a piece of clothing, a pair of shoes, you are taking a vote, contributing to degradation to the environment with your well earnt money (or student loan.) In order for the fast fashion industry to survive, capital must continue to expand infinitely and sadly, unlike
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Nobody’sChild A London based fashion brand with a very simple belief: that fast fashion doesn’t have to be synonymous with low quality or questionable manufacturing practices. Owning factories in the UK, Europe and Asia, Nobody’s Child controls the entire production process. With their adaption to current trends and low price point, I was stunned to find this brand was infact an ethical brand. No hessian sack dresses here!
i can’t get no satisfactio (the fast fashion alternate guide)
If it’s almost impossible for you to lose your style to the environment, check out some fashion brands who won’t destroy the planet. Slow Factory Creating limited edition silk scarves, the missiondriven design boutique merges scientific NASA digital prints with centuries-old artisanal textile. Modelled by internet icon, New York plus sized model Barbara Ferreira(@barbienox), Slow Factory’s strategy to disrupt the Fashion Industry is a strong product-focused approach rooted in digital culture and a clean, polished aesthetic, with the focus on images to drive meaning to a cause. slowfactory.com
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The Deep End Club “It’s easy to feel overwhelmed & pessimistic about the state of the world when you’re alone at home, feeling powerless. But have no fear, The Deep End Club is here! We are a community of like-minded artists and activists who care about our planet and want to make it better by collaborating on fun, action-based projects together.” Their NY clubhouse is a space for like-minded artists and activists, with their online HQ (thedeependclub.com) uniting people all over the world. You’ll see ‘Give a Damn’ slogan tees modelled by Alexa Chung, BFF of founder Tennessee Thomas.
Girlfriend Collective A direct-to-consumer activewear range, launching September. Turning water bottles into fabric fibres, Girlfriend Collective have decided to take a stand against brands that focus on profits at the expense of quality, fair factories, and the environment. In celebration of their launch, they’re giving away leggings for the cost of shipping! Free leggings? You’re Welcome. girlfriend.com
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18-24 April 2016 bringing people from all over the world, using the power of fashion to change the story for the people who make the worlds clothes and accessories. This April saw Fashion Revolution Week, 3 years on from the Rana Plaza disaster in which 1,134 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured when the clothes production complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The global movement - uniting around an annual campaign, frontiered by designer Orsola de Castro - extended from Fashion Revolution Day of previous years, to a week long event asking consumers and brands to raise awareness and celebrate sustainable fashion. Events included pop-up sales, yoga, workshops & talks, all in aim to raise awareness of the movement and fundraise for charities supporting the families affected by Rana Plaza. On April 18th, Fashion Revolution took the Houses of Parliament by storm, hosting Fashion Question Time; the panel discussion brought together leading figures across government and the textile industry, discussing the steps needed to create revolutionary change in the fashion industry. Both recognition from the government and exposure from press following the talk is essential for the growth of awareness of Fashion Revolution, with hope of the campaign expanding further worldwide in the coming years.
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TURF> iceland an exploration into changing landscapes a nirvana of dreamlike extremes, TURF presents a nordic adventure capturing the natural beauty of iceland. With a population not much larger than Brighton, the wilderness remains almost untouched, a contrasting haven of milky lagoons, icy glaciers, gushing waterfalls and black sand beaches. iceland runs on renewable energy, sourced from collecting high pressure steam from the foot of volcanoes, travelling through pipelines to poawer stations, with pressure turning electric generator turbines, with no need for oil.
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photography mathew innes direction corrie black model rebecca hawkes
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CHECK IT OUT
feeling inspired and want more? cut out the jargon and check out these. WOMEN ENVIRONMENTAL ARTISTS DIRECTORY wead.org a network of feminist ecoartists, who focus on women’s unique perspective in ecological and social justice art. LONDON TRANSITION london-transition.org.uk Find the transition initiative nearest to you, become part of a community within your community to work constructively to ‘transition’ away from high energy consumption and carbon emissions. BEAT THE MICROBEAD download in the app store check whether products contain microbeads simply by scanning the barcode with your phone camera.
GATHER&SEE gatherandsee.com a curated collection of sustainable style from around the world. Offering clothing, jewellery, bags, shoes, lingerie, sunglasses... forget ASOS, this is your one stop shop for unique and affordable ethical fashion. PARLEY FOR THE OCEANS www.parley.tv addressing major threats towards our oceans. uniting artists, musicians, filmmakers, fashion designers, journalists, architects, product inventors, and scientists to mold the reality we live in and develop alternative business models to give us earthlings an alternative sustainable choice.
THE TRUE COST watch on netflix.com GROW an insightful wallis road, hackney documentary exploring an experiment in the impact of fashion ethical, sustainable on people and the business & selfsufficient communities, planet. exploring not only environmental this canal side bar located in east london but ethical issues, a it great for organically potential tear-jerker but eye-opener. sourced food.
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