DETAILS
Free, no booking required
Magdalen Laundry North
Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford VIC 3067, Australia
DATES
Thu 14 May 11am – 6pm
Fri 15 May 11am – 6pm
Sat 16 May 11am – 9pm
Industry is an exhibition about legitimate sustainability with the aim of creating a circular economy model within a small designer–maker studio. The result is a series of speculative works — furniture, lighting, homewares, textiles and sculpture; some finished, some still concepts — where the entire ecological impact of the object is considered: materials, production, use, storage, transport and disposal, compelling a revision of outdated manufacturing models where sustainability becomes the true measure of an object’s worth.
Working mainly in timber and rubber from recycled tyre inner tubes, these objects are designed to be disassembled for reuse or repurposing, as well as storage and transport. Every timber build is a knock-down frame secured with dry joinery, rubber rope or pressurised rubber inserts, creating larger objects from smaller parts. This principle is also applied to the lights in the exhibition, made from discarded fluorescent tubes that can be disassembled by simply pulling a rubber knot. Even the LED strips are held with knotted rubber, anticipating reuse. Similarly, larger works can be dismantled, easily stored or later adapted into smaller forms.
The sawdust from these manufacturing processes is salvaged and treated, creating a material composite that can be moulded, coloured using natural dyes and later disposed of organically. The tyre inner tubes are collected and then transformed into rope and hand woven and knitted into textiles, applying rubber’s elastic properties and intrinsic friction to cover, protect and hold.
The idea for Industry originated from a desire to question harmful systemic design and production practices in the industries the artist works in that feed an unsustainable model for the future of our planet. Industry is the practical outcome of a year’s study into sustainable ancient, low-tech technologies long discarded in the name of ‘progress’ and which do not require any new infrastructure to be applied, a considerable advantage for a small designer–maker workshop. These works embody the thoughts and ideas that stemmed from this research.
Exhibition opens on March 13 from 11am-6pm.
Participants
Lucile Sciallano
Lucile Sciallano and Ben Landau co-founded Alterfact Studio in 2014 to merge new technology and tradition through 3D-printed ceramics.Alterfact Studio uses self-built clay 3D printers to create ideas and series which represent this new ceramic forming technique. Alterfact focuses on handmade vs mass manufacture and how digital technologies influence craft practice. They push the boundaries of this traditionally plastic-based medium and play with its connotations of utilitarianism and gimmickry.Having built the printer themselves, they recognise the importance of investigating from first principles. The open nature of the machine lends itself to deep experimentation, where any modification or improvement is possible.Their background spans art, craft and design, and in their practice they do not differentiate where their inspiration comes from and where their work is exhibited. Additionally, they borrow from other fields like graphic design, architecture, photography and textile design to forge a multidisciplinary practice which merges and challenges different fields.
Raven Mahon
Raven Mahon is a furniture maker, artist and musician based in Melbourne/Naarm, originally from California. Her woodworking practice began in San Francisco making props and sets for print photography. She slowly shifted into timber after an informal apprenticeship and has been professionally making furniture since then. Her work is largely focused on designing and building residential settings and is inspired by the elemental and earthy end of mid-century design. She appreciates works that maintain connections to organic shapes and textures.Music has always played a big part in her life. Raven is a multi-instrumental artist. She has played in multiple bands both in the USA and Australia.