I co-authored an article on Cradle to Cradle Design with journalist Dara Lang, for the current edition of Viewpoint Magazine.  The article considers the state of sustainable design within the fashion and design industries looking at C2C as a way to consider a product's lifespan from beginning to end within the design process.

VIEWPOINT #26: THE NEW NORMAL

IS THERE A NEW NORMAL?

The 20th century agenda of constant novelty, rapid change and style over content has now given way to a more considered approach through well-thought out product, reduction, simplified design and longevity.  Once a major source of pollution, design is now closely tied to cradle-to-cradle principles.
Change is definitely going on.  There is a 'new normal' that is different to the 'normal' of yesterday.  And this change can only accelerate as we start to enter the world of the unpredictable as rapid advances in bio-engineering, nano-technology and robotics kick in...

More info at

http://www.modeinfo.be/EN/Viewpoint_26-product-51066.php

http://www.view-publications.com/content.html

Image: Science Museum

The opening night of the Science Museum exhibition 'Trash Fashion' in their new Antenna Gallery...

Britain loves high-street fashion. Tempted by rock-bottom prices we’re buying a third more clothing than we did a decade ago. But fast-changing fashions mean over a million tonnes of textile waste end up in landfill each year.

This new exhibition investigates how the latest design and technology will help to create wear without waste and what we all can do to reduce the impact of throwaway fashion.

Antenna has been established with the founding support of SITA Trust and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, with additional support from EADS and The Royal Academy of Engineering.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/galleries/antenna.aspx

for more images go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/sciencemuseum/sets/72157624272764768/

and http://www.flickr.com/photos/davepatten/sets/72157624254516763/

Image: SCience Museum

I've been busy working on a new collection of garment pieces for the upcoming exhibition 'Trash Fashion...designing out waste' showing in The Wellcome Wing at The Science Museum London, from June 2010 until February 2011.

The work developed for this exhibition continues a design project which began in 2007.  Funded by a SPARK Award from the Materials KTN, I explored laser technology as a tool for creating recyclable synthetic textiles.  The aim was to keep materials recyclable without sacrificing functionality and aesthetic.  I found that many finishing techniques, which would normally need chemical coatings or adhesives, could be achieved without them.

For this exhibition I have pushed the technology one step further and used the laser not only to decorate the material’s surface but also to cut and weld a garment pattern as part of the same process.  The materials used are 100% recycled polyester (kindly sponsored by Teijin Fibres, Japan) and the finished piece is fully recyclable with their EcoCircle system.

http://www.twi.co.uk/

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

http://www.ecocircle.jp/en/index.html

University of Liverpool, Foresight Centre

18th Nov 2009

Chelsea College of Art & Design

16th November 2009

I recently ran a group workshop with students at Chelsea attending the Textiles Environment Design research workshops.  The session was focussed on the question... How can a designer contemplate time and cycles at the beginning of the design process?

This session aimed to explore the concept of ‘borrowing’, in relation to materials an technologies, which could suggest a methodology for  ‘design for recycling’.  After a presentation outlining the material lifecycle context, the group workshop was designed to unpack issues of recyclability surrounding a collection of archetypal garments and considered the potential for a new approach based on material systems thinking. 

I presented a paper about recent practice at this one-day symposium.

Organised by Kerry Walton and Janette Matthews in collaboration with the Textile Research Group and the Drawing Research Group the event explored themes in relation to the use of lasers in Art & Design and their contribution to making artefacts.

Laser processing of metals, acrylics, wood, textiles and other materials is a well-known industrial process for cutting and marking. Equipment is becoming more accessible and even commonplace in academic institutions for use by Art & Design and Design Technology departments. As is often the case with emerging technologies, there is a requirement for the potential to be fully understood before the process can be exploited. A number of practitioners, designers and technologists are involved in exciting work that moves the laser process beyond just a cut or a mark in a material. This one-day symposium will explore the laser process in Art & Design and the relationship of practitioners to the technology.

Through a series of illustrated presentations and panel discussions by leading artists, designers, researchers and technologists, it will show how the process is being exploited through innovative practice and demonstrate that laser processing is more than a means of cutting. The relationship between laser technology and its impact on underlying practice will be questioned. Advances and emerging trends in the development of laser technology and the consequent impact on practice will also be explored.

Papers were invited around the following themes:

• Lasers are used for both speed and repetition and as creative tools for experimentation. What methods and approaches enable experimentation and result in innovation?
• Lasers can enable transferability of art work between a variety of materials. How is this best achieved and what are the potential opportunities and limitations of this approach in terms of design quality and practicalities?
• Working with lasers creates a physical distance between the artist/designer and the artwork/design. What affect, if any, does this have on the sensibility of the final piece? How does this compare with other automated devices used in art and design for example other digital technologies such as printing? How is this 'distance' exploited or mitigated in the creative process?
• Does software mediate this distance between the artist/designer and the artwork/design in laser work? How central is the creative use of software to innovate design/art that employs lasers?
• Laser operating procedures are necessarily 'safe', again creating a physical distance from the cutting/marking process. How can happy accidents be encouraged/facilitated in such situations? Or are the safety procedures enabling?
• To what extent does knowledge of materials science and/or the fundamentals behind laser processing inform creative work? If so, is it necessary to learn individually by trial and error? Would a designer friendly 'handbook' be useful? Do different approaches result in different outcomes facilitating creativity?
• What are the advantages of lasers over other cutting and marking technologies? What new opportunities do they afford beyond speed and repetition?
• Relevant to art and design, what other opportunities exist beyond cutting and marking in regard to laser technologies? How do practitioners become aware of these technologies in sufficient detail to exploit them and explore at the boundary edge

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/mainpages/Symposium-CuttingEdge/symposium_papers.htm

7th JULY 2009

I recently presented my PhD project at a TFRG workshop at Central Saint Martins Innovation Centre for UAL- MA students/graduates, co-organised by Dr. Jo Heeley & Dr. Jane Harris.  The workshop was designed to give students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience from PhD students associated to the Unit that are currently engaged in practice-based research projects. Other speakers at the event included Aurélie Mossé, Jane Scott, Jennifer Baille, Kathy Schicker and Kerri Wallace.

See more info at...

http://www.tfrg.org.uk/node/11002

Gallery 2 of the Museum in the Park, Stratford Park, Stroud GL5 4AF

'Upcycling and New Technologies'

Illustrated talks by Kate Goldsworthy & Dr Emma Neuberg
For more information go to http://www.stroudinternationaltextiles.org.uk

To book contact the Festival office on 01453 808076

Working around the central themes of recycling, mutli-disciplinary practice and cultural collaboration, the designers will be asked to choose a second-hand plastic object and this will then be sent to the group of designers in the next country to be worked on or transformed, while always maintaining its functionality. The reworked object will then be sent to the next group of designers to be worked on for a final time.  Participants will also be asked to keep a 'passport' of their ideas, a sketchbook which records their drawings and thoughts which will be sent on with the accompanying object.

TED recently hosted an introductory workshop with presentations from Marie OMahony, Emma Neuberg, and Prof. Kay Politowicz.  The final pieces will be exhibited as part of PassionTour, a design festival in Santiago in September 2009. 

Annabelle Filer writes for FX magazine on innovations in the world of materials....