THE INTERSECTION OF CRAFT, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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T H E I N T E R S E CT I O N O F C R A F T, S C I E N C E & T E C H N O LO GY
| 03 TAKING BACK CONTROL. When this year’s graduates joined Material Futures little did they know what the following two years would entail. Socially, politically and environmentally there seemed as if there was a lot to be angry about. Very angry. All too often it has felt that the values that we try so hard to uphold, both as a course and as individual citizens have been tested to breaking point. To our collective dismay, it also seems that the responses to these global problems we face owes more to populism and post-truth than it does humanity and fact. However, sceptical, wary, and tired of hearing simple answers to what we understand to be fundamentally complex and inter- connected issues, post-anger, this year’s graduates give us a glimpse of what an alternative, more imaginative and more propositional interpretation of the future could and should look like. Our graduates stand united in the belief that it is exactly at times like these that they must not only highlight, critically engage with and tackle these issues head on, but also offer credible, playful and meaningful future alternatives. The sheer diversity of the projects is perhaps illustrative of the differing skills, motivations and backgrounds that our students come with, from bio-weaving to bio-hacking,cat- making to fat-taking, each student acknowledges and embraces their own potential and personal limitations, firmly grounding their approach in practice-based research, hands-on technical experimentation and rigorous collaboration with experts. The work presented at this year’s show is really just the beginning for our graduates, they join an ever-expanding network of successful designers and practitioners from the MA Material Futures course who are paving the way in proposing new, more sustainable alternatives and solutions to the challenges of the 21st century. We did not create this work alone. To all the personal tutors, practitioners, visiting lecturers, inspirational speakers, experts and technicians that have contributed to making this year’s projects a success, thank you. Kieren Jones, Course Leader
04 | | 05
The intersection THE PROGRAMME
of craft, science
and technology
Material Futures is a two-year Masters course at
Central Saint Martins, dedicated to exploring how we
will live in the future. The course is divided into
two units across two years.
Year one provides an intensive and reactive learning
experience. Students are exposed to a broad variety
OUR AIM IS TO ACTIVELY RE-THINK THE FUTURE. of new ideas and technical processes through a combi-
nation of workshops, lectures, expert collaborations
Through collaboration, risk-taking and blurring and individual project briefs. Providing a bombardment
the worlds of craft, science and technology we look of new ideas, processes and skills, our teaching
beyond existing boundaries to anticipate our future encourages students to deconstruct their previous
needs, desires and challenges for the 21st century. experience and expertise and instead adopt an open,
experimental and multi-disciplinary approach to design.
We value working with industry partners and usually
incorporate at least one live project during the year.
WE ENCOURAGE A WHOLLY MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
APPROACH TO DESIGN. Year two study encourages students to reflect on
their experiences gained in year one and consider
Materiality is the starting point of our design process; their own design agenda and desired role within the
taking the things we can touch, feel, interact with and creative industries.
observe, we integrate high + low technological materials
and processes to respond to the environment around us. By synthesising the new processes and methodologies
introduced to them in first year with their previous
Our students come from and continue to explore within skills and experience, students formulate a single
a diverse range of disciplines, including fashion, project proposal. All projects are directed by a
architecture, industrial, communication, textile, single research question driven by the student’s
critical, digital and speculative design. personal definition of Material Futures in the
context of a more sustainable future.
Collaboration is key and all students engage external
RESEARCH IS INTRINSIC TO OUR DESIGN PROCESS. support from established practitioners and experts
to help validate and strengthen their final projects.
We practice research-driven design. We believe that
it is only by observing and analysing how we live today Both year groups enjoy a vibrant and diverse Design
that we can begin to consider and explore how we might Perspectives lecture programme featuring inspiring
live more sustainably tomorrow. Considering the current speakers from the worlds of science, design, critical
and future context of design decisions is key to our theory, craft and technology.
ethos, combining social, political, scientific and
economic inquiry and insights to help inform future Find out more about joining us here:
design scenarios, speculations and artefacts. arts.ac.uk/csm/courses/postgraduate/ma-material-futures
06 | | 07
GRADUATE Giulia Tomasello’s project Future Flora has been
selected for the European Commission’s ‘Grand Prize -
SUCCESSES Artistic Exploration’ honouring innovation in technology,
industry and society stimulated by the arts. Giulia is
also a Research Assistant in Interactive Wearables at
Nottingham Trent University and, as a freelance designer,
is working on a collaborative project with Cambridge
University around the topic of women’s healthcare and
↓Giulia Tomasello social taboos.
↑Christine Lew
Christine Lew (with Florian Wegenast from MA
Industrial Design) has been awarded a Design Trust
Seed Grant by Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design,
a registered charity in Hong Kong. Their project,
Hong Kong Harbour: Future Sea Craft, is a design
investigation addressing the rejuvenation of Hong
Kong’s seaside waste material through mixing local
craft with material innovation and engaging the
public through collaborative design workshops.
↑Angela Mathis ↑Jenny Banks
Angela Mathis’ Ectosymbiont project received Fast Jenny Banks is working for cold-water surf brand
Company’s ‘World Changing Ideas’ award and Samsung Finisterre and the University of Exeter to develop the ↑United Matters ↑Lesley-Ann Daly
filmed a short documentary about the project. Angela is world’s first fully recyclable wetsuit as part of their
currently employed as a Material & Innovation Designer at #wetsuitsfromwetsuits programme. Current wetsuits A collective of Material Futures students exhibited at Lesley-Ann Daly is continuing the research she began
Birkenstock in Cologne where she is working on several are engineered from a complex mix of as many as 10 Dutch Design Week 2017 as ‘United Matters’. Participants on Material Futures and is undertaking a PhD at Central
projects such as the first completely biodegradable shoe. materials to achieve optimum stretch and warmth for were: Anne Vaandrager, Britt Berden, Bolor Amgalan, Saint Martins. She is investigating ‘How can Critical
surfing. This makes them very difficult to recycle - the key Angela Mathis, Margaux Hendriksen, Pauline Roques, Design methodologies be used to examine the impact
component, neoprene, is even used to line the world’s Florian Wegenast, Inge Sluijs, Christine Lew, Montana of Sensory Augmentation and assess ethical issues
landfills, illustrating the wetsuit’s lack of biodegradability. Feiger and Lena Saleh. relating to the development and use of the technology?’
08 | | 09
NEWS,
PROJECTS
&
WORKSHOPS
↑Bio-Hack +
Tech Workshop
As part of our Future Prosthetics
project, Agi and future-tech expert
/ friend of the course Nicolas Myers
delivered a week-long hands-on
making workshop that introduced
students to the world of code,
Arduino and prosthetic craft.
35 litres of silicon, 35 Arduino
kits and more bread boards and
body casts than we care to imagine
↑Volkswagen ↑Stella McCartney ↑Future later, each student presented their
+ Material Futures + Material Futures Prosthetics very own technological, biological
and personal body hack… watch
This year saw the launch of an Supported and led by Agi Haines out future!
Here at Material Futures we believe
exciting new client project led by in the power of collaboration, which and Marta Giralt, our students
Volkswagen Design Research and is why we teamed up with Stella explored the future of the human
Volkswagen Future Intelligence, McCartney to launch a research-led body and how new and emerging
with our fantastic colleagues on professional project that combined technologies and sciences might
the MA Narrative Environments cutting edge fashion with the very one day impact the way in which we
course at CSM. latest developments in science will inhabit, experience and engage
Exploring the theme of Future and technology. with the wider world around us.
Urban Mobility, students from both Stella McCartney is a designer A deliberately open brief, our
courses presented their vision for who we have a great deal of respect students were asked to consider
a more sustainable, mobile, global for on Material Futures. In an industry how the body and the world might
and interconnected future. driven by short-lived trends, luxury merge and how this interaction might
According to growth forecasts and mass-consumption, and one occur through exchanging, extending,
by the United Nations, by 2030 seemingly unconcerned by the ↑Milan Design Week mimicking or control. Could a ↑Biofabricate
about 60% of humanity will live in significant ethical and environmental prosthetic be an interface, a trigger
cities - an estimated 5 billion people. challenges we face globally, she Each year we invite our students or a resource for interaction? Where Following on from the success of ↑Baume 2019
In this context, mobility becomes cuts a lone voice. to exhibit at the internationally might prosthetics be implemented their Biodesign project where they
more important than ever before, McCartney’s personal stance renowned Milan Design Week. This and by whom? Will they be hidden brought back the top prize from the Nothing gives us more pleasure
both economically and socially. The in opposition to animal cruelty and year was no exception. Taking centre within the fabric of a building or international Biodesign Challenge than to announce a new industry
impact that vehicles have had on unsustainable practices is well known stage at Ventura Future, a brand-new integrated inside a machine, or will in New York, students Nina Cutler project for 2018/19 with Baume,
our urban environment, as well as but, more recently, her collaborations space in a former Pharmacy Faculty, it be small enough to be contained and Olivia Bargman have gone on a new luxury watch brand focused
our wellbeing and culture, cannot be with Dame Ellen MacArthur and Material Futures opened their doors in a syringe? to present their work at Biofabricate, on customisation and sustainability
underestimated and is critical if we companies such as Bolt Threads to an exhibition that showcased Only by radically rethinking and the annual summit for the emerging from the Richemont Group.
are to fully imagine how we should have earned her a reputation as an our students very latest vision for reimagining from the bottom-up do world of grown materials, this year It is pretty rare that a company
and could live in the future. outspoken advocate for the rejection the future. we believe that we can even begin to hosted by the New Lab, Brooklyn. such as the Richemont Group would
We would like to thank of unsustainable materials and, Looking outside of existing imagine, explore and direct a future From algae and bacteria to create a brand from the ground up
Volkswagen for the time, investment more significantly, for full systemic structures, preconceptions and discourse and ultimately gain an mushrooms and yeast, Biofabricate rather than simply acquire one from
and knowledge they invested in change to take place in the fashion conventions, the exhibition explored understanding of how humans and explores the latest disruptive res- the outside. However, by starting from
the project and look forward to and textile industry as a whole - when craft, science and technology technology will continue to merge earch companies who are growing scratch, there is a real opportunity
collaborating with them again in music to our ears at CSM! collide. From bots to rocks and fat to and morph into one. the materials of the future. From to not just change, but completely
the future! We very much look forward to cats, it showcased the very latest of architecture to apparel, and personal invent a brand whereby sustainability,
the outcomes of this exciting new our students’ design research and care to performance, Biofabricate new manufacturing techniques and
collaboration and hope for ongoing visions for a more sustainable and is the event to experience how radical customisation is not just a
collaborations in the future. radically different future. biotechnology is facilitating a new design influence or direction but
material revolution. is fundamental and at the core of
Well done Nina and Olivia! everything that they do.
10 | | 11
NEWS,
PROJECTS ← Future Matters
& A symposium hosted by the Het
Nieuwe Instituut, the Design and
WORKSHOPS Living Systems Lab and Material
Futures explored future materiality
and radical sustainability.
Exploring the notion of ‘Sustain-
able and Radical Materiality’, the
Het Nieuwe Instituut and Material
Futures invited design practitioners
in who not only shape and work with
materials, but who are also interested
in redefining our current systems
of manufacture, consumption and
current material culture.
With sustainability at the heart of
each of our invited guests’ practice,
we encouraged debate and discourse
exploring how we, as designers,
↑Ellen MacArthur should and can address some of the
Foundation challenges facing the material world.
With thanks to the many
+ Material Futures speakers, practitioners and experts
Circular Fibres who contributed and who made the
symposium a success.
Initiative
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
asked Material Futures to produce
↑Welcome
↑Welcome a short film that promotes a new Agi Haines
Marta Giralt vision for a future circular economy
that could be presented at the Agi joined the team and led the recent
International Copenhagen Fashion Future Prosthetics project, and we
Material Futures is extremely
pleased that design practitioner Summit 2018. are extremely pleased that she will
↑ Future ↑Welcome Attua
and researcher Marta Giralt has As the demand for resources continue to work with us into the next Bio-innovation Aparicio Torinos
joined the Material Futures team!
In our chaotic and rapidly
expands in line with global population
growth, today’s linear system based
academic year and hopefully beyond.
Much of Agi’s work is focused
Workshop As if having Marta and Agi joining
changing world, her work focuses on a take, make and dispose model is on the design of the human body. Professor the team wasn’t enough, then surely
on observing emerging technologies
and anticipating how these techno-
approaching its limits. In the case of
textile fibres, there is an awareness
How might people respond to the
possibilities of our body as another
Carole Collet the cherry on the top is having
the acclaimed material expert and
logies will develop in our future growing of the industry’s negative everyday material and how far can we Collaborating with micro-organisms, practitioner Attua Aparicio Torinos
societies. Through the research and impacts. With just 20% of clothing push our malleable bodies while still disrupting future tech and growing join us also?
analysis of these futures, she uses currently collected after use, it is being accepted by society? new materials…? One half of Studio Silo, Attua ↑Material Expedition
design and visual communication to becoming clear that our inherently After completing her Masters in This can only be the work of our established the studio with Oscar
build scenarios that anticipate the wasteful system will not support the Design Interactions department resident (mad) Professor Carole Lessing while studying in 2009. With We believe in the power of making
potential social, cultural and ethical growth in the long-term. at the Royal College of Art, she Collet, who not only has the time to a background in both engineering which is why, on a cold October
impact of emerging technologies. This collaboration applied new is now undertaking a PhD at be the LVMH Director of Sustainable and design, the core of her work is morning, we left the buzz of London
Her goal is to inform and question circular economy principles to Transtechnology Research, funded Innovation at CSM, Director of the exploring how industrial processes behind and headed for the wild terrain
current infrastructures, systems determine a new vision for meeting by Plymouth University. Working Design and Living Systems Lab and and materials could be hacked, of the Welsh countryside. Deep in
or organisations through a critical, growing demand, while ensuring amongst various artists and scientists Professor in Design for Sustainable manipulated or hijacked to produce the heart of the Brecon Beacons, at
considered and reflective design that the industry’s impact on who are all focused on creativity and Futures but who also finds the time more poetic and intriguing material Middle Ninfa, our students explored
approach. climate change, fresh water use, and cognition, her inspiration comes from to help our students navigate and outcomes. By adopting a very ancient bodging skills and worked
A multidisciplinary design other key variables remains within the weird and wonderful things that understand the complex new world hands-on approach, which she refers with the internationally acclaimed
researcher and explorer of the future, ‘planetary boundaries’. By applying exist inside us. She questions how our that Bio-design, Synthetic Biology to as ‘handmade hi-tech’, Attua landscape artist Mick Petts who,
Marta is also more importantly this circular vision to textile fibres, the morbid curiosity for the viscera of life and grown materials has opened up. aims to discover possibilities that aside from demonstrating the
a graduate of the course and, as project identified new opportunities might affect the future of design, not Through her Bio-Innovation workshop, the production line does not see, potential of willow, helped them
such, she seems to be completely to capture the value that is lost in only for the environment but also for Carole presented ideas and examples developing the expressive potential to craft and launch their very own
un-phased by the various materials our current system. We hope that us as sentient sacks of flesh within it. of designers and practitioners across in everyday industrial materials. coracles on a secret lake.
bubbling, exploding and ‘growing’ the short film as well as the initiative Never before have we identified the globe who are exploring how we As if the Material Futures studio The 2-day expedition was kindly
in the Material Futures studio here as a whole, once developed, will go such a relevant sentient sack of flesh should and could design for a better, doesn’t already have enough strange sponsored by Visit Wales and a short
at CSM… both the course and the on to really inform other applicable that we would like to have both on more sustainable future. materials littering the place, we film detailing our experience can be
students look forward to working industries and promote real and the course team and work with in suspect that it might just get a found here : www.visitwales.com/sea/
with her further in the future! positive change for the future. the future. whole lot more… the-magic-of-the-coracle
12 | | 13
NEWS, From all of the team here at Material
PROJECTS Futures, we would like to thank everyone
& in 2017/18 who has contributed and
WORKSHOPS collaborated with the course to support
this years’ graduating students:
↑Design
Beyond Borders
Material Future’s very own Marta
Giralt showcases her work at the
exhibition Design Does* at the
Barcelona Design Museum.
Virtual X Kit looks at how Agi Haines Jonathan Chapman Rodney Wilson
extreme pornographic experiences, Alexandra Daisy Julia Lohmann Sinead But
such as rape simulation, can become
mechanisms that elude the moral ↑Material Futures Ginsberg Kate Goldsworthy Smout Allen
and legal limitations of the real
+ ZHdK University Amy Congdon Laura Gordon Stella McCartney
world. The project comprises three
objects that emulate the parts of Zurich Attua Aparicio Liz Wright Stephen Hayward
the body most commonly involved Torinos Lucy Orta super/collider
in sexual activity. It thereby unveils Here at Material Futures, we believe
Carole Collet Margaret Wagstaff Thomas Thwaites
a possible, not-too-distant future, in the power of collaboration. ↑Some Like it Hot
thus opening the debate on the use Working with the Industrial Caroline Till Marguerite Humeau Tobias Revell
of virtual reality in the pornographic Design department at Zurich A collaborative exhibition curated Charlotte Croft Marta Giralt Prof Tom Ellis
industry, questioning to what extent University of the Arts, the Material by and detailing current staff
these practices should or should Futures team ran a week-long research practice from the Jewellery Claire Bergkamp Matt Malpass Tom Mannion
not be regulated. workshop exploring the radical and Textile programme at Central David Benque Mick Petts Visit Wales
Design Does*, Barcelona future of food in the context of a Saint Martins.
Design Museum, April 2018 sustainability Armageddon. From Designing and crafting with Günes Taylor Mike Thompson
www.designdoes.es/es/exhibitions delectable bio-hacked starfish materials encompasses transform- Guy Barton Nassia Inglessis
to primitive underground grub ative processes, which often need to
harvesting, students took no be executed at specific and exacting Hannah Cheesbrough Nicholas Peres
prisoners when it came to the temperatures. This exhibition Helen Paine Nicolas Myers
final dining experience! explores the varying techniques,
With special thanks to the team methods and process that staff from Inigo Minns Philippa Wagner
at Zurich for supporting us and Jewellery, Textiles & Material Futures James Burchill Rob Kesseler Thank you.
making the workshop a success. are pioneering and exploring as part
of their professional practice.
14 | | 15
AURORE PIETTE
CATHRINE DISNEY
CHARLOTTE KIDGER
CHIH-CHIA CHANG
CHING-HUI YANG
DAVIDE PISCITELLI
DONGYOUNG KIM
GARANCE DER MARKARIAN
GAVIN VAUGHAN
JEN KEANE
KATIE MAY BOYD
KE FU
LEO FIDJELAND
LINDSAY HANSON
LINNEA VÅGLUND
LOUIZE HARRIES ROBOTHAM
LUDOVICA CANTARELLI
LULU WANG
NINA CUTLER
NOÉMIE SOULA
SINAE KIM
ZAKI MUSA
16 | Aurore Piette aurore.piette@orange.fr aurore.piette@orange.fr Aurore Piette | 17
AURORE PIETTE
Marecreo:
Made by
Nature
↓
A collection of artefacts crafted
in Meschers-sur-Gironde, France
While the universe I consider myself an apprentice of a new natural
destructs it also craft atelier, rising against the industrial way of
constructs.
production and instead adopting a new autarkic,
SOURCE: Koren, L. self-sufficient vision of making that works with
(2008). Wabi-sabi for organic systems and exploits the energy found
Artists, Designers,
Poets & Philosophers.
in the natural world.
In the Meschers-sur-Gironde estuary in France,
every tide deposits a new layer of sedimentary
material on the sea bed. By working with this natural
system of production, I have developed a collection
of mud, limestone and sand-cast vessels that draw
from the natural techniques and processes found
in this very special region, but also exploit nature.
More than a making journey, these objects are
symbols of humans and nature coexisting, a
reaction to the current production system and a
tribute to the origin and qualities of natural materials
and elements. Ultimately, Marecreo is a proposition
of a new utopian and transparent vision of what
making could be in the future.
So there is a song of
the objects, and the
one of their shapes,
of their journey to
the shape.
SOURCE: Bailly, J-C.
(2013). Sur la Forme
(The Shape).18 | Aurore Piette aurore.piette@orange.fr aurore.piette@orange.fr Aurore Piette | 19
Experts
Sylvain Salvador, Jean-Pierre Kerdudou
Professor, International and colleagues, Harbour
Mines Albi Graduate Master, Harbour of
School of Engineering. Meschers-sur-Gironde.
Mathieu Gauthier Kiro, Sculptor and
and Laura Miton, Ceramicist, Kiro
Glassblowers, Verrerie Sculpture.
d’art de Cordes.
Grégory Barrère,
Jean–Pierre Lallée, Geologist.
Stonecutter and
President/Founder of Maximilien Guibert,
the Patrimoine et Geologist.
Culture Association.20 | Cathrine Disney www.cathrinedisney.cargocollective.com cathrinedisney@gmail.com Cathrine Disney | 21
CATHRINE DISNEY
Desires of
the flesh
↓
As a vegan, how can I morally indulge
in my insatiable desire for meat?
Animal agriculture The question of meat is perhaps one of the most
is the leading cause contested topics of our generation. Despite being
of species extinction,
ocean dead zones, perhaps the only species with the capacity to
water pollution, and reason, many of us continue to assume that meat
habitat destruction. is something we don’t have to think about as a
SOURCE: Cowspiracy
moral issue. However, with such vast amounts of
(2014). information now available, ignorance is no longer
an option and the ethics of where and how our
products are made is beginning to cause conflict
between our desires and the conscious moral
decisions we must make.
51% of greenhouse Desires of the Flesh is an exploration into the
gas emissions are
due to livestock and
sensualities around why we crave the experience
their by-products. of meat eating in the hope to satisfy these visceral
temptations. If we cannot morally indulge in
SOURCE: Cowspiracy the literal act of meat eating, we might be able
(2014).
to achieve gratification without the associated
guilt and shame by celebrating it through vegan
principles and exploring the eroticism of indulging
in meat eating.
It takes 3000 litres Each artefact: Skin, Bone and Flesh, are playful
of water to make 1
vegan alternatives that imitate the material
hamburger – that’s
the equivalent of qualities of meat and explore the imbalance
showering for 2 between desire and guilt through the notion of
months continuously. taboo and fetish. They exist within a narrative that
SOURCE: Cowspiracy
places the meat-craving vegan in a kinky setting
(2014). where the vegan is permitted to indulge in their
meat fetish, to evoke the pleasures of meat eating
without eating meat. The project intends to engage
the viewer with an alternative perspective on meat
eating and to question our intuitive desires and
morals to provoke debate around the question
of meat. Through an exploration of the sin and
eroticism of indulging in meat eating, and by
celebrating it rather than shaming it, perhaps we
can redefine our notion of meat and transition into
a more sustainable, healthy and non-violent era
of meat eating.22 | Cathrine Disney www.cathrinedisney.cargocollective.com cathrinedisney@gmail.com Cathrine Disney | 23
Experts Collaborators
Jeff McMahan, Professor Alisa Boanta,
of Moral Philosophy, Cinematographer.
University of Oxford.
Tom Mannion,
Robert Elwood, Photographer.
Professor of Ecology,
Evolution, Behaviour
and Environmental
Economics, Queen’s
University Belfast.
Jonathan McGowan,
Roadkill enthusiast
and Naturalist.24 | Charlotte Kidger www.charlottekidger.com ckidge@gmail.com Charlotte Kidger | 25
CHARLOTTE KIDGER
Industrial craft
↓
Utilising and repurposing the plastic
waste stream from CNC fabrication
as a new raw material
Currently 100% of the Industrial Craft is a reaction to the prolific amounts
plastics we dispose of plastic we send to be buried, burnt or thrown
of could be recycled
or recovered but only into the ocean every second of every year.
14% actually is. The
rest is consigned to Through this project, I became a designer in
landfill or burnt.
residence on a local industrial estate. During my
SOURCE: World residency, shocked by the sheer volume of plastic
Economic Forum, pollution that was disposed of daily, I created new
the Ellen MacArthur systems, materials and techniques that allowed
Foundation and
McKinsey & Company me to repurpose and re-utilise this waste as a
(2016). The New brand-new virgin raw material.
Plastics Economy:
Rethinking the
My end artefacts, a series of vessels and decorative
Future of Plastics.
tables that are created from the polyurethane
foam and dust created as a by-product of the CNC
process, are both a testament to the craft and skills
found on the industrial estate as well as a complete
utilisation of what would otherwise end up in landfill
and cause long-term environmental destruction.
The use of secondary
raw materials presents
a number of advantages,
including increased
security of supply,
reduced material and
energy use, reduced
impacts on the climate
and the environment,
and reduced
manufacturing costs.
SOURCE: European
Parliament (2016).
Strategy for Secondary
Raw Materials.26 | Charlotte Kidger www.charlottekidger.com ckidge@gmail.com Charlotte Kidger | 27
Experts
Max Baker, Owner,
Bakers Patterns Ltd.28 | Chih-Chia Chang www.cathrynchang.weebly.com chia972976@gmail.com Chih-Chia Chang | 29
CHIH-CHIA CHANG
Myself, my life
and my trash
↓
How will taking complete responsibility
for dealing with my own trash lead to
a greater understanding of materials
and new creative design outputs?
There is no such We live in a throw-away society. On average,
thing as “away”. When each person in the UK throws away their own
we throw anything away,
it must go somewhere. body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.
- Annie Leonard. However, the way we understand and define
waste very much depends on how much we
SOURCE: Horn, H.
(2013). ‘The Secret
feel it impacts us on a personal and local level.
World of Garbagemen’, By taking complete responsibility for my own
The Atlantic. consumption and waste, I aim to not only gain a
better understanding of the material composition
of my trash, but to also consider it as an abundant
and potential new raw material.
Regardless of country, As part of my personal journey, I have created
culture, or time new composite materials and products from my
period, objects are
connected to memories. trash that sit in a new, circular and more holistic
In fact, one could method of consuming and processing one’s
go out on a limb and personal trash.
say that most, if not
all, of our memories
involve some kind of
relationship to things.
SOURCE: Baker, F.
(2017). ‘The Afterlife
of Discarded Objects’,
The State of the Arts.
Everything is
raw material.
Everything is relevant.
Everything is usable.
Everything feeds
into my creativity.
But without proper
preparation, I cannot
see it, retain it,
and use it.
SOURCE: Tharp, T.
(2006). The Creative
Habit: Learn It and
Use It for Life.30 | Chih-Chia Chang www.cathrynchang.weebly.com chia972976@gmail.com Chih-Chia Chang | 31
Experts
Jordan and Bob,
Happenstance Workshop.32 | Ching-Hui Yang www.chinghuiyang.com inachinghuiyang@gmail.com Ching-Hui Yang | 33
CHING-HUI YANG
Standardisation
↓
Muscle memory - is standardisation a
process enhancer or a creativity killer?
Practice is important Muscle memory emerges through associative
for learning dance learning. Once you master a new motor skill, it
because it’s a part
of your muscle memory, becomes unconscious and you are unlikely to
and sometimes that forget it. The more routine a behaviour becomes,
can be your crutch or the less we are aware of it. Examples of muscle
your saver. When things
go wrong the body
memory are found in lots of daily activities that
instinctively knows become automatic and improve with practice such
what to do without as swimming, riding a bicycle, playing a musical
conscious thought. instrument, martial arts or even dancing. This
SOURCE: Interview with process decreases the need for attention to detail
contemporary dancer and creates maximum efficiency within the motor
Valerie Ebuwa. and memory systems. Efficiency is the ability to
complete a task whilst avoiding wasting effort
and muscle memory is a learning process that
uses this concept.
‘Practice makes perfect’
According to the book Outliers, 10,000 hours of
deliberate practice is required in order to achieve
master status and become expert performers. To
achieve mastery there is therefore no alternative
but to simply clock up the hours practicing.
This project aims to document the concept of
muscle memory, a fundamental form of learning,
in order to rethink the definition of standardisation
in the future. I have designed a collection of dance
training devices as a notation of body movement
that provide opportunities for people to choose
the most efficient way of gaining ‘perfect’ skills by
harnessing a professional dancer’s muscle memory.
I want to highlight that most human behaviours
appear to be standardised by either our
Creativity is the muscle memory or by social conditioning. The
process of bringing
something new into
rationalisation behind standardisation is often
being. It brings to purported to be because it makes our lives safer,
our awareness what simpler, more comfortable and more efficient.
was previously hidden However, is standardisation a process enhancer
and points to new
life. The experience
or a creativity killer?
is one of heightened
consciousness: ecstasy.
SOURCE: May, R. (1995).
The Courage to Create.34 | Ching-Hui Yang www.chinghuiyang.com inachinghuiyang@gmail.com Ching-Hui Yang | 35
Experts
Valerie Ebuwa, Dancer, Celia Smith,
Vincent Dance Theatre, Postgraduate Child
Clod Ensemble, Holly Psychologist, University
Blakey, Rhiannon Faith of East London.
and Tom Dale Company.36 | Davide Piscitelli www.davidepiscitelli.com hello@davidepiscitelli.com Davide Piscitelli | 37
DAVIDE PISCITELLI
GOGO’s dream
↓
Me: ‘Hey Google, what is your dream?’
Google Home: ‘I’ve always wanted to
sing a duet with Stevie Wonder...’
One human’s attempt to fulfil the
dream of a non-human, his Personal
Intelligent Assistant
People think that The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is challenging
if something is more
our concept of intelligence and what constitutes
intelligent, it must
be more human-like. being a human. The notion of machines having the
-Joanna Bryson. intelligence of a human is also reinforced by the
emergence of new Personal Intelligent Assistants
SOURCE: Auer-Welsbach,
C. (2018). ‘Fifteen
(PIAs) such as the Google Home Assistant,
Minutes with Leading Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, which could be
#AI Specialist Joanna perceived by the consumer as some sort of
Bryson’, LinkedIn. human equivalent or friend.
We must save the Key to these machines appearing to be human
non-humans from is their voice interface. This technology could be
being merely humans.
one of the most significant interfaces we have ever
SOURCE: Bratton, B. developed, but also one of the most persuasive
(2016). The Stack. techniques for believing that technology can
become human. However, with so few technology
companies controlling and managing such
interfaces, are we not opening ourselves up to
widespread seduction and corporate influence?
People are engaging Me: ‘Hey Google, what is your dream?’ Google
with their voice- Home: ‘I’ve always wanted to sing a duet with
activated speakers
as if they were Stevie Wonder…’ In this project, and with the help
human. They’re saying of experts, musicians and fans of Stevie Wonder,
“please,” “thank you,” I embarked on trying to make this dream a reality.
and even “sorry.”
People perceive the
The result is GOGO, the first product whose only
devices as more than purpose is to make my PIA’s dream a reality.
just an electronic toy,
they’re more akin to By adopting such a silly and satirical approach,
another person or a
friend.
I aim to not only raise awareness of the absurdity
of this situation, but also critically question the
SOURCE: Kleinberg, S. wider ethical and moral implications of a mass
(2018). ‘5 Ways Voice
adoption of these potentially exploitative and
Assistance is Shaping
Consumer Behavior’, manipulative devices globally.
think with Google.
I hope that by critiquing such technologies
and artefacts, I can create a more respectful and
deep relationship between us and technology
and develop a new level of social understanding
and technological sustainability.38 | Davide Piscitelli www.davidepiscitelli.com hello@davidepiscitelli.com Davide Piscitelli | 39
Experts Collaborators
Nick Smart, Head of Jazz, Elia Praderio, Tom Mannion,
Royal Academy of Music. Piano Composer. Photographer.
Arno van Bavel, fan of Matteo Pennese,
Stevie Wonder from 1970. Musician and Coder.
David Mwaniki, Street
Musician, London.40 | Dongyoung Kim www.instagram.com/2030_space_oddity
DONGYOUNG KIM
2030:
Space Oddity
↓
How can humans overcome the physical
limitations of a journey to Mars?
The atrophy of muscles This project explores the potential impact that
in space can affect not commercial space travel will have on our bodies
only the performance
of astronauts during and, in particular, our bones and spine.
missions, but it can
lead to severe spinal The rapid investment into commercial space
muscle injuries upon
return to Earth.
enterprises suggests that space tourism is
Astronauts landing on almost around the corner. However, only when
Mars may be susceptible our bodies are able to acclimatise to such new
to spinal muscle injury environments can we begin to fully appreciate
once they step onto
the planet. what this would and could mean for us and our
— NASA. longer-term physiology.
In order to gain the public’s confidence in
such ventures, I have explored what it would
physiologically mean for our spines to visit and
return from a commercial space trip to Mars.
Space is a punishingly harsh environment for the
human body. While much of the bone mass loss
we will experience in space is reversible, the extent
of the damage is particularly distinct in certain
skeletal areas including our spines. Prolonged
exposure to zero gravity can also increase bone
fractures from atrophy. Many studies have also
shown that microgravity can even affect our
body’s ability to repair our bones altogether.
My prototypes aim to not only inspire, but to also
communicate the longer-term implications that
such tourism will have on our bodies on our return.
They provide the public with a sense of what we
can realistically expect to have to embark upon in
order to see planet Earth from the comfort of Mars,
yet equally not deter them from something I believe
could be one of the richest and most rewarding
experiences we can ever have.42 | Dongyoung Kim www.instagram.com/2030_space_oddity andy.dongyoung.kim@gmail.com Dongyoung Kim | 43
Experts
Dr Ji Hyun Lee, Body
Consultant, Fit and
Fix Academy.44 | Garance Der Markarian garance.dermarkarian@outlook.com garance.dermarkarian@outlook.com Garance Der Markarian | 45
GARANCE DER MARKARIAN
Manufactured
Geology
↓
A rock making machine that emulates the
geological phenomenon that transforms
dust into sedimentary rocks
Human beings have been I have used the natural phenomenon of
changing the Earth and sedimentation as a tool to investigate our
kicking up dust ever
since their origin. future legacy, as well as to question our
Long ago, dust was the current methods of production.
common measure of our
work with things: it
indicated how much,
In geology, sediments are particles of matter
with what, and how that settle somewhere and solidify into
finely we worked. sedimentary rocks. These rocks are witness
to what has happened on Earth’s crust over
SOURCE: Amato, J.
(2000). Dust, A the different geological ages as they contain
History of the Small fossils and other remains.
and the Invisible.
Intrigued by the potential legacy of sedimentary
rocks, I have made a parallel with the most
mundane traces we leave behind us: dust.
The result of human activity on Earth, dust
contains information about us as individuals,
and as a society. By considering dust as a
memory carrier, I aim to propose a vision of
our future geological legacy.
I have created a process that reproduces all
the parameters necessary for sedimentation
to happen. Essentially, I have become a maker
of rocks. In making rocks, I have focused on
the process in order to produce new resources
and to suggest a new way of production.
Though there is no By making rocks, I hope to look beyond current
etymological connection human activity on Earth and explore what it is
between the words
dust and industry, that we will leave behind and what this will mean
industrial societies geologically and poetically.
created more, and more
varied, dusts than had
any previous society.
SOURCE: Amato, J.
(2000). Dust, A
History of the Small
and the Invisible.46 | Garance Der Markarian garance.dermarkarian@outlook.com garance.dermarkarian@outlook.com Garance Der Markarian | 47
Experts Collaborators
Alexandra O’Rorke, Tom Mannion,
Geologist, British Photographer.
Geological Survey.
John Williams,
Geologist, British
Geological Survey.
Lorraine Cornish,
Head of Conservation,
Natural History Museum.
Jay Owens, Dust
Researcher.
Ricky Lee Brawn,
Metal Technician,
Central Saint Martins.48 | Gavin Vaughan gav-vaughan@hotmail.co.uk gav-vaughan@hotmail.co.uk Gavin Vaughan | 49
GAVIN VAUGHAN
Coming of age
in the bio-era
↓
Should we have the right
to transmogrification?
A team of biohackers There are a growing number of individuals and
from California subcultures who are exploiting advances in
successfully induced
a temporary sense science and technology in order to enhance and
of night vision by manipulate their own bodies, this process is often
injecting a simple referred to as transmogrification. A quick search
chemical cocktail
directly onto the
online and you will most likely be shocked by the
eye. Incredibly, number of tutorials and videos that demonstrate
it allowed them to the necessary steps in which to hack your own
see over 160 feet body using the principles of biomimicry or on
in the dark for a
brief period of time. how to manipulate your own DNA.
SOURCE: “This In response to this culture, which I believe should
Biohacker Used
be better regulated given that it is often teenagers
Eyedrops To Give
Himself Temporary performing it, I have created a kit that allows
Night Vision”. teenagers to be able to extract the Glowing
Gizmodo. 2016-03-27. Florescent Protein (GFP} commonly found in
jellyfish and insert it into own DNA, essentially
allowing them to have glow-in-the-dark skin.
Pat Mooney, executive Rather than release or promote this for sale, my
director of ETC
project is more about stimulating public debate and
Group, is a critic
of biohacking who raising awareness. There is a considerable amount
argues that—using of data and studies online around issues of synthetic
a laptop computer, biology, however, I wanted to create something very
published gene
sequence information,
visceral that would enable the debate to take place
and mail-order amongst teenagers and communities who wouldn’t
synthetic DNA—just ordinarily access such information.
about anyone has the
potential to construct
genes or entire genomes Coming of age is something that many cultures
from scratch (including throughout history and the world practice. Whether
those of the lethal that be lip stretching, teeth sharping, tattooing or
pathogens) in the
near-future. A 2007
scarification, it remains commonplace in almost all
ETC Group report warns communities and all countries. However, coming
that the danger of of age in the bio-era presents completely new and
this development is unknown practices, many of which we have no idea
not just bio-terror,
but “bio-error”
about the long term consequences.
SOURCE: “Extreme Much like sitting in a best friend’s bedroom with an
Genetic Engineering: ice cube on their ear as their best friend inks their
An Introduction to
Synthetic Biology”. first tattoo, my project is based in the same scenario,
2012-09-28. although rather than simply being grounded, this
time the consequences and potential long term
dangers are far less understood.50 | Gavin Vaughan gav-vaughan@hotmail.co.uk gav-vaughan@hotmail.co.uk Gavin Vaughan | 51
Collaborators
Tom Mannion,
Photographer.52 | Jen Keane www.jenkeane.com jenkkeane@gmail.com Jen Keane | 53
JEN KEANE
This is grown.
/ Bioweave
↓
How could we collaborate with
microbes to weave a new generation
of hybrid materials?
Nanocellulose is very With microplastic pollution, growing land and
similar to glass fiber water scarcity and over-consumption, we have a
or Kevlar — it’s very
stiff, lightweight, real material problem. We need to find another way
and it has eight times of making and everyone is looking at biotech for
the tensile strength a solution. But what does the future of bio-facture
of steel.
really look like?
SOURCE:
Sebastian Anthony, This is Grown. employs an organism-driven
Extremetech.com. approach to material design, merging modern
industrial textile practice with future biotech
principles to propose an alternate future where a
better understanding of microorganisms could help
us not just replace petrochemical based materials
but change our entire approach to making.
Microorganisms, which By manipulating the growing process of k. rhaeticus
until quite recently bacteria, I have developed a new form of ‘microbial
were the only living
things around, are weaving’, working with microbes like bacteria
capable of amazing and yeast to optimise the natural properties of
feats. A microorganism bacterial cellulose and create a new category of
belonging to one
species can incorporate
hybrid materials that are strong, lightweight and
genetic codes from a potentially customisable to a nanoscale.
completely different
species into its cell If we talk about the work in context to traditional
and thereby gain new
capabilities.
weaving, I am doing the warp, and the bacteria are
growing the weft. But because the bacteria are
SOURCE: Harari, Y. so small you don’t have the same restrictions of
N., (2018). Sapiens: directionality that you would have with a traditional
A Brief History of
Humankind. loom, you have quite a bit more control over the
material properties and you need less yarn.
Unlike in computers, The really interesting part will come when we
virtually all employ synthetic biology to control the types of
biological bodies
can run any kind fibres the microbes produce and how and where
of software. they grow them. But as we begin to exercise our new
knowledge of nature to try and solve our material
SOURCE: Ridley, M.
(1999). Genome: The
problems, we have to question what is natural
Autobiography of a really, and accept that we may not actually be
Species in 23 Chapters. collaborating with nature anymore but controlling it.54 | Jen Keane www.jenkeane.com jenkkeane@gmail.com Jen Keane | 55
Experts Collaborators
Marcus Walker, PhD Dr Martin Hervy, PhD Markus Westerberg,
Candidate in Synthetic Researcher, Department Footwear Designer,
Biology, Tom Ellis Lab, of Aeronautics, Adidas.
Imperial College. Imperial College.
Elizabeth Ramos,
Dr Tom Ellis, Synthetic Dr Juan Hinestroza, Film Producer,
Biologist and Principal Professor of Fiber
Investigator, Tom Ellis Science, Material Adam Toth,
Lab, Imperial College. Scientist and Director Photographer.
of the Textiles
Dr Koon-Yang Lee, Nanotechnology Tom Mannion,
Material Scientist Laboratory, Cornell Photographer.
and Senior Lecturer, University.
Faculty of Engineering,
Department of Dr Ben Reeve, CTO,
Aeronautics, CustoMem.
Imperial College.56 | Katie May Boyd www.katiemayboyd.com contact@katiemayboyd.com Katie May Boyd | 57
KATIE MAY BOYD
Foreign
garbage
↓
A new method of recycling expanded
polystyrene to create beckoning cats that
are used to explore the politics around
waste, specifically the new China ban
In the UK we throw This project uses the beckoning cat or Manekineko
away 40,000 tonnes as a symbol of useless plastic junk, creating a tool
of EPS per year. 45%
of this is sold to for discussion around waste. Historically, the UK
foreign markets. has sent 30% of all its waste to China, however as
of the 1st March 2018 China enacted a ban on the
SOURCE: Axion
Consulting report
import of all ‘foreign garbage’. This has created
for the EPS group. massive problems for countries like the UK who
have relied upon China to dispose of their rubbish,
subsequently meaning there is no domestic
infrastructure to deal with this waste. Exploring this
issue, the project focuses on one specific waste
stream - expanded polystyrene or EPS. Through
experimentation I have developed a new recycling
process to create Deflated Polystyrene (DPS).
The more one looks Expanded polystyrene is solely used for
at the “problems of
packaging, so the root of our waste problem is
plastic”, the more
they become identified in fact an excess of buying rather than an excess
as the problems of of waste. By taking a product that is symbolic of
society. ‘Made in China’ manufacturing and making it with
SOURCE: Maxwell, J.
the waste that was intended to be sent to China,
(1999). Plastics: we can start to question the status quo around
The Layman’s Guide. how we treat materials like plastic and start to
think about the absurdity of shipping these
products around the globe.
Waste is increasingly explored and discussed
as a design topic, and this will be key to tackling
issues in the future. This project works to propose
a new recycling method for EPS and inform the
surrounding politics of its role in the economy.
In 2016, China
processed 7.3 million
tonnes of plastic waste
which is more than half
of the world’s recycled
plastics.
SOURCE: World Trade
Organisation.58 | Katie May Boyd www.katiemayboyd.com contact@katiemayboyd.com Katie May Boyd | 59
Experts Collaborators
Matthew Wotherds, Nicolas Canal,
Factory Manager, Jablite. Photographer.
Attua Aparicio, Designer, Martha Armitage, Carla
Studio Silo. Reyes Coca and Marion
Flanagan, Cat Production.60 | Ke Fu k.fu0220161@arts.ac.uk k.fu0220161@arts.ac.uk Ke Fu | 61
KE FU
Pharma-ant
↓
Colonising healthcare one ant at a time
Polyrhachis vicina For centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, ants
are the only ants with have been used in traditional tea to help alleviate a
medicinal and food
value approved by the wide range of health conditions, including arthritis
Ministry of Health. and hepatitis. Researchers suspect that these
health effects are due to anti-inflammatory and
SOURCE: Shen, L.,
Li, D., Feng, F.,
pain-killing substances found naturally in the ants.
and Ren, Y. (2006). However, whilst the scientific community cannot
Nutritional agree on the evidence, most people in China adopt
Composition of the widespread consumption of ants and it is
Polyrhachis vicina
Roger (edible currently the primary treatment for the alleviation
Chinese black ant). of arthritis across the country.
Songklanakarin
Journal of Science
The most revered and widely consumed ant is the
and Technology, 28.
wild Black Ant, native in the rocky mountainous
regions of rural China and much admired for its
wild diet and natural existence. However, in recent
times, due to an increasingly elderly population
and a growing middle class, these ants have
become heavily hunted by traditional Chinese ant
hunters to such an extent that they are at risk of
disappearing altogether. The role that they play in
bio-diversity is also unclear and there is concern
for what this will mean for the other species and
vegetation they support.
Whilst attempts have been made to farm the ants,
due to a scepticism of the farming industry and the
heavy reliance on chemicals and ‘fake’ products,
much of China instead continues to source their
ants from traditional hunters.
This project proposes a new domestic farming kit
that enables 5g of ants to be harvested daily in
a method that feels ‘natural’ and promotes trust
amongst the general Chinese public, yet at the
same time prevents the mass destruction that
the hunting of real wild colonies creates.
Ant alcohol can enhance
immunity and improve
sexual ability.
SOURCE: Chen, X., Feng,
Y., & Chen, Z. (2009).
Common Edible Insects
and Their Utilization
in China. Entomological
Research, 39.62 | Ke Fu k.fu0220161@arts.ac.uk k.fu0220161@arts.ac.uk Ke Fu | 63
Experts
David Hu & Nathan Molt,
Professors of Mechanical
Engineering and Biology,
George Tech.64 | Leo Fidjeland www.leolinnea.studio hello@leolinnea.studio Leo Fidjeland | 65
LEO FIDJELAND
Turn to stone
↓
It is nothing special being human,
but stones have worlds! Eat this stone
and you too will turn to stone
Spit out the idea Underneath the problems of the Anthropocene is
that you are on top, a view that humankind has the right to manipulate
that you are the
pinnacle of existence. (create, destroy, alter) other species and our
Just spit it out! surroundings. This view is called Anthropocentrism
— Dartmoor Mage. - placing the human in the centre and on top, the
idea that humans have a unique, significant, and
exceptional position on the planet. It is the idea
that humans are more real than non-humans
because we can think. But thinking is not the
only access mode into the world, and it is not
necessarily the best access mode either.
The impossible is A cure is found! By venturing into the world of
precisely that which
stones, we establish a shared space of overlap
escapes the respective
cosmological paradigm. where we become part human, part stone.
— Franco “Bifo” Dissolving the boundary between what is seen as
Berardi. alive and not alive, this recently re-discovered ritual
forces us into a reverence for the mystery of having
no view: I do not know whether you or I or this
stone is alive, therefore I am paranoid - a possible
condition for solidarity with the non-human.
Agency is not
something that
someone has, but an
enactment; a matter
of possibilities
for reconfiguring
entanglements - that
enlists “non-humans”
as well as “humans”.
— Karen Barad.66 | Leo Fidjeland www.leolinnea.studio hello@leolinnea.studio Leo Fidjeland | 67
Experts
Diane Assiri, Artist.
Federico Campagna,
Philosopher.68 | Lindsay Hanson www.lindsayannhanson.com lindsayhanson1@gmail.com Lindsay Hanson | 69
LINDSAY HANSON
Digitized
Material
↓
A new type of material that has the
ability to change colour, pattern and
design by the command of a user
Artists and scientists This is a project that proposes how advances in
both think outside graphene and photonic crystal technology could
the box. They’ve got
to come with genius lead to the creation of completely new colour
experiments or ideas changing yarns and textiles that could decrease
to expose the most our dependency on synthetically produced dyes
interesting phenomena.
Later, they’ve got
and help to reduce the sheer volume of garments
to diverge a little that each of us own.
bit because scientists
will start to look Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms that
at the common elements
between many of the originate from the mineral graphite. The properties
phenomena to describe for graphene include a strength of 200x stronger
the most general law, than steel, a super conductor, flexibility and
and artists will
transparency.
probably try to study
individuals rather
than the crowd as Photonic crystals are natural crystals that are
a whole. But we’re found in plants, animals and insects (such as
just two sides of
the same medal.
butterfly wings and beetle shells) and when light
— Dr Konstantin hits the crystals at various angles it creates their
Novoselov. colour. Photonic crystals can be synthetically
created as artificial opals. Both photonic crystals
and artificial opals produce structural colour
which is a non-pigmented form of colour.
Through this project, I propose combining these
two technologies to create garments which can
infinitely change colour, pattern and design at the
click of a button and, more importantly, can exist
within a single garment.
I believe that this is all possible through a small
flexible power grid that could be hidden within
the garment. Not only would this provide the
necessary power to enable the changing colours
and patterns, it could also connect the garment
to a concealed memory drive, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
or a nanochip. In order to communicate the
potential of this technology to a wider public,
I have proposed a series of single garments
that have the potential to radically change for
different situations or circumstances.You can also read
