NEWSLETTER This has been an exciting month within the Artcycling team. We met in Copenhagen on 8th and 9th and our feelings couldn’t be better! We made an overview of the work done in each partner organization until now and planned the further steps. Also, we had time to visit a really interesting project of the city council of Copenhagen supporting local artists working with recycling materials. Visit our Facebook for more information about it.
Welcome to ARTCYCLING!
LEARNING FROM CRAFTSPEOPLE In INTRAS, we finally managed to involve 10 artists with mental health issues to participate in Artcycling and express their creativity using recycling materials. To learn how to work with this kind of materials we have already organized six workshops run by local craftspeople of the region in the last months. In January 2016 the local craftswoman Pilarina hecho a mano taught the group how to make patchwork and “trapillo” (t-shirt yarn), because one of the products that the artists want to make are knitting carpets. The same artist gave another workshop in February about how to re-use old jeans; you can make thousands of different things with them! In March, the group had two workshops about how to work with reused ceramics and how to do paper mache recycling old newspapers. The Spanish Artcyclers are going to collaborate with the famous national Art Exhibition “Las edades del hombre” (the most important annual Spanish exhibition on religious art) making handcraft ceramic magnets and caps for bottles using reused ceramics so this workshop was really useful. We are very proud of collaborating with such an important art exhibition! On April two more workshops were organized: painting and drawing and re-using old pallets. One more about how to work with recycling leather is coming soon. As you can see, we are learning a lot from our roots, from the local community of artists working in the area of Valladolid and Zamora and we expect that this will be an inspiration for our Artcyclers.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
The Art Cycling project in Pacificstream moved into Make Liverpool, a new creative space in an old warehouse by the docks. This space will provide the project with space for storage and making and access to equipment and tools. We have spent the last few weeks organising our space and workshop. The team visited the Natural History Museum to research indigenous plants. The drawings and photographs from that visit will be used as source material for designs for our products. To extend this theme we have also arranged a programme of activities and workshops that starts with print workshops. The print workshops will be using recycled inks and paints and we will be printing on upcycled materials. We have also started working on some prototype ideas for products. The tyre pouf was made from locally sourced silver birch wood for the legs, a tyre, some recycled plywood, and fabrics gathered from curtains and old clothes.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
In the Retextil House there were 10 workshops in the spring! We learned cross shewing, leather, bike tube, plastic upcycling, wool crafting, basket weaving, triaxial weaving, book covering and pattern cutting. All the workshops had wonderful impact on the ArtCyclers, they are all full of new ideas and inspiration. We had bike tube upcycling workshop in the communal workspace called Klub in PĂŠcs. The leader of the brand Licorice showed her experience in creating jewelry out of cleaned tubes. The Artcyclers had time to get to know the methods of creating different kinds of necklaces, pins and accessories. To get the Artcycling project moving in Denmark, Cultura 21 Nordic visited the first three inspirators for our creative making processes in the spring and early summer. In order to inform our practises the best possible, we visited a very diverse group of craftspeople, designers and artists, with very different approaches to recycling/upcycling and sustainability in the making of art and design products. This has been a great inspirational process.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
KEA - Growing and Sharing our Future Materials Our first visit went to the education institution KEA where we had a chance to experience the material library and the material laboratory. Designer Mette Marko gave a presentation focusing on future materials, and on learning from nature’s processes. She introduced the distinction between the biological and technological material lifecycle loops. And the possibilities of growing materials to a desired shape, instead of appropriating the material to a shape with the waste this entails. An example was how you can grow mushrooms in a fibre ‘body’, for instance hemp, into shapes that can serve to make furniture or other products. With the Artcyclers, we produced our own milk protein plastics. We made this by heating fat milk and mixing it with an acid like vinegar or lemon, which makes the fluid separate. The resulting soft dough can now be formed to your desired shape by hand. Historically, this material has been used as a substitute to oil based plastics, during periods of scarce supplies, for buttons for clothes, or for small items like children’s toys. Now it may be redeveloped to new purposes again. If it is surface treated with a biodegradable treatment it can stay entirely in the biological life cycle loop.
Jonas Edvard - Developing Specific Designs For the second inspiration visit, we went to designer Jonas Edvard’s workshop studio, at the production collective PB43. Jonas introduced us to his work and his approach to being a designer working in a field between art and design. Edvard doesn’t have a specific predefined area or material of focus that interests him, but finds what he considers specific to each project he works on, and which he seeks to identify and develop. Edvard gave us an introduction to the process he has developed, making his own material from seaweed and paper pulp into a sort of formable ‘clay’ or paste. The Artcyclers experienced forming that material over a mould to the shape of lampshades. The material is dried and fitted with sockets etc., to form a finished lamp. The seaweed-paper mould material can also be used to shape other interior products such as chairs or tables. The idea behind this process and material is that the Danish landscape has a plentiful resource of seaweed, offering itself to be inserted into a more bio-based product. Combined with the paper waste, it becomes a bio-upcycled material, based on locally available resources. This principle could inspire many artists working with sustainability as a guiding principle.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
Floating City/The Goldmine - Experiments with Trash The third place we went to fuel our inspirations was the artist collective Flydende By (Floating City), who are part of the recycling experiment called The Goldmine. Luisa Kleine, one of the artists engaged in Flydende By, gave us a tour around their place and invited the artcyclers to cocreate with materials on the site. The Goldmine is part of a recycling station in Copenhagen, run by the municipality of Copenhagen. Normally, it is not allowed to retrieve items from the recycling station, once they are brought there by citizens. You leave your unwanted objects in the designated areas to each type of material. E.g.: wood, iron, electrical objects, etc. The Goldmine is an ongoing experiment where 14 small companies working with design and art from recycled and upcycled materials can use materials from the recycling station, during a two-year test period. Floating City is one of these companies, working as a self-organised collective. The collective lives in a large hall next to the recycling station, making art, ships, and other vehicles from the trash that they pick up in the station, and in other sites. They also have the task to point out objects that may be useful for others and help make these accessible. Floating City started out as a group building vehicles on water to live on, teach in, cultivate on - creating a recycled, upcycled, self-generating, floating city. Now, they are as much on land as on water. But the principle remains: working with whatever materials are available, and working to create awareness and community around sustainable lives. Given the invitation to develop our own ideas with the materials, the Artcyclers started conceiving ideas for the creation of art works that we will work on after summer. An idea was born to create not only separate works, but also create an exhibition pavilion/folie made from recycled/upcycled materials, and able to serve as exhibition space for the Artcycling works. Since the day at Floating city, we have gone on to share and work together, focusing on a.o. traditional techniques for making pottery; the aesthetic experiences of found objects/ patterns of trash; and the integration of performance and upcycled and repurposed materials. We are quite looking forward to see more production taking shape in the fall on the basis of our series of common experiences.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
MORE ABOUT PACIFICSTREAM Pacificstream specialises in supporting new and existing artists, musicians, designers and makers but have experience of supporting entrepreneurs of all ages and backgrounds across a diverse range of the creative and digital industries within Liverpool, Merseyside, the Northwest of England, nationally and internationally. We have over 40 years experience of working within the design industry, including, fine art and digital design, working directly with practitioners and businesses to expand and promote the creative industries on Merseyside making it a centre for quality art and design practice. We provide practical advice and specialist information to commissioners, businesses and producers of design, design for communication, designer makers and visual arts: Creative professionals - Pacificstream offers one-to-one advice sessions for creative professionals giving advice on portfolio development, presentation and where to look for business support and funding; Businesses, commissioners and clients – Pacificstream offer an impartial service to help purchasers, commissioners and exhibitors of design, visual art and craft identifying the right creative practitioner for their project. We also offer professional advice on all aspects of commissioning processes, bid authoring and fund raising including writing briefs and selection proceedures; Events and workshops – Pacificstream organises an ongoing programme of events and initiatives targeted at the design industry including specialist workshops and networking events for businesses, freelance designers and visual arts practitioners. Research –undertakes research for projects in a wide range of creative disciplines. Pacificstream has a team of research and marketing specialists that provide a complete range of research depending upon the needs of the client, or project Our staff are highly experienced and have the energy and enthusiasm to achieve results that will lead to informed decision-making. Basecamp Liverpool is an award winning business community supporting the creative industries. This creative hub and incubation helps creatives to either start a business or help their existing art and design practice to survive and grow. We provide a modern, supportive environment where new startups and early stage development companies can access high quality business support, advice and guidance and engage with likeminded artists and designers.
NEWSLETTER III - June 2016
THE INTERNATIONAL RECYCLING DAY EVERY INDIVIDUAL MAKES A DIFFERENCE The International Recycling Day is a new initiative that is a worldwide call for action! On May 17 in many country people celebrate the strategy of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It can be a great chance to open up more and more people’s eyes for the negative impact of globalization and the constantly growing urban solid waste. The international celebration can lead to cross-border campaigns and activities and connect the different groups and organizations together. Jane Goodall and her international organization network started a Mobile Phone Recycling Day in 2016. It is an open call for every individual for recycling all kinds of electronics, especially mobile phones. They collect phones in 9 different countries and try to make a global impact. Did you know...? One ton of recycled paper saves: - 24.000 gallons of water - enough energy to power an average home for 6 months - 20 trees - 4 barrels of oil If you already consider recycling as an important part of your daily life you are on the right way! But never forget: every individual makes a difference! Share these ideas, support recycling activists and reduce your environmental footprint!�
The next issue… … Starting of the creative process! … Knowing Fundación INTRAS
We will come back in September!
For further information, please contact us via e-mail: proyectos2@intras.es You can find us on Facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/Artcycling-1072951626083052/?notif_ t=page_user_activity