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Crafting a sustainable future from today's wasteMike Press Professor of Design Research, Sheffield Hallam University
"Good material is a myth. English walnut is not a good material. Most of the tree is leaf-mould and firewood. It is only because of workmanlike felling and converting and drying and selection and machining and setting out and cutting and fitting and assembly and finishing - particularly finishing - that a very small proportion of the tree comes to be thought of as good material; not because a designer has specified English walnut. Many people seeing a hundred pounds worth of it in a London timber yard would mistake it for rubbish... "1.David Pye The Nature and Art of Worksmanship, 1968 Craft, like all the visual arts, reflects the spirit of the age in which it is made. Our age offers us more wealth, adventure and pleasure than could be dreamed of even a generation ago. Our future provides a menu of self- destructive possibilities ranging from nuclear annihilation to ecological suffocation. Our past, with its certain knowledge and utopian dreams, is a fast fading memory. As Marx described it, through the contradictions and fragmentation's of the modern world all that is solid melts into air 2. The work in the Recycling Show, made at a particular moment in history, reflects the sense of crisis, contradiction and questioning in our culture. There is little new about turning cans into jewellery, bottles into tables and rags into rugs. We have a well documented history of domestic thrift craft in this country in which women recycled worn out coats into rugs, underwear into cleaning rags while woollens were unpicked and reknitted. 3. Today, necessity has turned old tyres into water carriers in West Africa, and tins into lamps and other items sold on Indian markets.4 Driven by scarcity, people throughout history and across all cultures have displayed dazzling inventiveness in clothing their children and making homes for their families with their own and other people s waste. But the makers in this show are not driven by scarcity. The historical and cultural echoes of thrift craft, interesting and valuable though they are, offer at best a highly partial contextual understanding of the work produced by a new generation of makers. Today ,craft is in a state of flux. Melting into craft are new influences and creative connections. Our makers are part of a broader creative culture in which the reuse, recontextualisation and manipulation of existing components have transformed graphics, music, fine art and design, offering us renewed perceptions of value. While this context is more significant than craft traditions, and perhaps even than environmentalism, in understanding new developments in contemporary craft, the craft method itself has found a new relevance. As a means of obtaining knowledge about materials and processes, discovering how to find the quality within any matter, craft finds us diamonds in the landfill. Exploring the aesthetic of sustainability There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them , argued Victor Papanek at the start of his ecological critique of design.5 In creating products that are often unnecessary, highly packaged, disposable and energy intensive in their production and use, industrial designers have better served the interests of corporate profitability than they have the planet. This is, of course, understandable: the profits pay their salaries. Defined by an economic system that requires unconstrained growth and continually regenerated desire, consumer-led design is no longer about meeting needs, rather it seeks to create and constantly to stimulate human desires .6 A combination of the greening of public opinion, the ecological reality that such a system is simply unsustainable and the navel gazing brought on by the so-called "death of modernism" has led the design community to question its ethics and future direction. In his latest book, Victor Papanek makes an impassioned plea for a new aesthetic in design: a new direction - transcending fad, trend or fashionable styling - is long overdue. New directions in design and architecture don t occur accidentally, but always arise out of real changes in society, cultures and concepts .7 While Papanek appeals to spiritual values, Ezio Manzini of Milan s Domus Academy has made the case for a new aesthetic to be seen as a fundamental factor of change .8. Design, according to Manzini, cannot change the world, but is capable of giving form to a sustainable society. By give form he means to visibly amplify new types of demand and behaviour, together with proposing sustainable criteria for quality. David Pye reminds us that there is in the man-made world a whole domain of quality which is not the result of design and owes little to the designer .9 It is through craft and workmanship that designers have understood the possibilities of materials. As the quote from Pye at the beginning argues, there is no such thing as "good" or "quality" materials. It is only through the craft of manipulating materials that quality has been revealed in a piece of wood, clay, glass or metal. It is through craft that we can explore and define the new aesthetic called for by Papanek, Manzini and others. The practice of craft is a form of research that provides us with knowledge of materials, processes and techniques.10 Through manipulating a material, a maker will understand its decorative and functional potential and refine methods of working it. Much of this knowledge cannot be reduced to words, for it relies upon movement, touch, sometimes even smell and sound to acquire; craft knowledge makes use of all the senses. But it remains a knowledge that can be communicated, applied and developed further. Craft knowledge is not "old" knowledge, for it is constantly evolving and adapting to new materials, new tools, new demands and new skill. Our educational and cultural elitism has sought to devalue the knowledge discovered by craftmakers, reducing it to mere manual skill. If manufacturers and designers are to employ a new aesthetic of sustainability they will have to apply the knowledge of craft, including the new knowledge that is contained in this exhibition. Sustainable consumers need to develop an aesthetic taste for the raw, the partially cooked and the reheated; they need to appreciate the inherent quality in something that once looked like waste. The craftmakers in the Recycling Show have through their practice researched ways of isolating and refining this quality - they have seen what has not been seen before. Brigitte Turba saw jewellery in plastic milk cartons, JAM Furniture discovered furniture in white goods, while Clare Goddard gazed into a teapot and saw a pair of boots. Such observations may prove small yet vital steps in making use of what has become regrettably one of our most plentiful raw materials - waste. Since each of us, on current patterns, is set to produce 52 tons of this material in our lifetime, knowledge of how we can use it, value it and thus produce far less of it is essential. The materials and product research rooted in craft practice is beginning to contribute to a new aesthetic and in turn may create possibilities for a new ethically responsible culture of consumption and production. connected plurality Despite the best efforts of some commentators to push craft into a territory tightly defined by familiar forms and materials and a premium on traditional skills, as in Dormer's notion of "the conservative crafts" , many makers continue to explore in new directions.11 These confront the established definitions, traditions and critical contexts of craft . Making sense of this diversity is the challenge today, rather than seeking to deny its legitimacy. A critical force determining future direction in the crafts is art and design education. Possibly the greatest influence on the creative scavenging seen in this exhibition are government spending cuts. As materials budgets have shrunk, inventive tutors have come up with all manner of projects which involve raiding skips, dustbins and the municipal dump to promote a form of educational thrift craft. Modular course structures, a further device to teach more students with less resources, have in some cases been used positively to provide specialist modules in environmental design issues. Now within new universities, art and design departments have opportunities to develop research activities. Research in craft disciplines has developed from an historical focus, usually conducted by non-practitioners, to more challenging and pioneering research inquiries that are practice based, undertaken by makers. Practitioners researching through action and reflecting in and on action 12 breaks through the tiresome stereotype of the dumb crafts and at last empowers craftmakers to determine their own critical contexts. The new recycled contemporary craft therefore arises from an educational context that makes greater use of waste materials, provides increasing study opportunities in green design, and is fast developing a research culture that encourages experimentation and critical inquiry in the crafts. The annual New Designers exhibition, which brings together design graduates nation-wide, is a barometer of design education s changing climate. In his review of the 1994 New Designers show, David Walker characterised some of the work exhibited as displaying a connected plurality : divergent creative approaches underpinned by the common objective of ethically based simplicity.13 According to Walker, "creative scavenging" is part of the emerging ethic beneath pluralism, for which he provides a three-fold taxonomy in the use of found forms (animism), the use of found materials (brutalism) and the use of found objects (cannibalism). This framework provides one means of defining the diversity of approaches in this exhibition. Dail Behennah, for example, as a maker using found materials is a brutalist , while Sophie Chandler with her bottle constructions, a maker using found objects, is among our fine young cannibals . Brutalism and cannibalism can be creative responses to a green ethic, but they have been in evidence in the crafts since the mid 1980s, characterising in particular the 1987 New Spirit Crafts Council show and Thackara s 1986 volume New British Design 14. This was long before Thatcher discovered the votes in the ozone layer, Sainsbury's discovered the profits in recycled toilet rolls and we discovered that David Icke was a bottle bank short of a recycling centre. It is a mistake to view all such work as green or as part of a new ethical movement for it manifestly is not. The plurality of creative approaches is connected to a broad range of cultural influences of which, I would argue, the politics of the environment plays a minor but doubtless growing role. The lack of critical theory in the crafts have led student makers to connect with other disciplines and movements when contextualising their work. For a few, most notably the furniture maker Michael Marriot, Charles Jencks 'adhocism' , a philosophy of reuse and recontextualisation originating from architecture, has provided the theoretical connection.15 For others in jewellery, the fashion styles of grunge and deconstruction may be more relevant. Sampling in the recording studio and scanning in the Mac studio provide creative strategies around the selection and reconfiguration of existing forms, whether musical or visual. As part of the creative culture that craftmakers find themselves in, the recycled styles of dance music and computer graphics have an influence. Then we have post-modern industrial and decorative design. This has encouraged novelty and humour in consumer products through the use of surprising form. in the way an Alessi kettle or Philippe Starck chair is appealing . The appeal of many items in this exhibition derives from a similar surprise , such as the teabag bags, milk bottle lights and plastic bag bracelets. Definitions based on creative strategies rather than materials will doubtless continue to help understand the ever shifting nature of that activity broadly covered by contemporary craft . In the context of this exhibition it helps to underline the point that while some makers are concerned with recycling (Jane Atfield s plastic furniture) others are reusing (Michael Marriot s cunning use of sardine cans) and all, through the nature of their practice are reducing their consumption of materials. The Three R s of green design are clearly in evidence. Crafting a new economy In the current context, it is valid to view craft as providing laboratories of aesthetic and technical experimentation developing ideas for consumption, which can influence and challenge consumer tastes, as well as ideas for production which can be taken up by manufacturers. In his review of the work of British designer makers ten years ago, John Thackara complained that the fact that most of these individuals are alienated from mainstream manufacturing is a tragedy. If even a few of their innovations in form, or surface finish, or materials handling, could be taken up by manufacturers, dramatic improvements to mass production standards could be made .16. The prospect of flexible manufacturing systems pulling craft-based innovation onto the factory floor to meet the needs of customised production proved illusory. Furthermore, the decade that created the yuppie and made Wapping fashionable sustained a buoyant gallery market which sustained many makers. Today, a combination of makers with more acute business sense and a willingness to work with industry, together with more openness to new ideas from a small but rising number of enlightened industrialists, has led to closer working between makers and manufacturers. Jane Atfield not only makes furniture from her recycled confetti plastic, but also produces and markets the plastic in sheet form through her Made of Waste company. There is a growing demand for such plastic, especially in North America where Fender has produced a range of its Stratocaster guitars featuring a confetti plastic body instead of wood. Other makers in this exhibition have also linked up with manufacturers. Tejo Remy s milk bottle lights have gone into production, while both Jeremy Dent with his can slabs and Tom Dixon with recycled plastic furniture are currently working with companies to develop ideas for industrial production. Craft researcher Andrew Hewitt started experimenting with glass and cement composite materials as a sculptural medium during his MA studies in glass at the Royal College of Art. After graduating he worked with Professor Jim Roddis at Sheffield Hallam University to refine this materials innovation with the support of British Glass. The British glass industry faces the problem of how to recycle large quantities of green, mixed and contaminated waste glass. Its ambitious recycling targets demand that new uses and applications are found for this material. Andrew Hewitt has developed the composite into a versatile material that can be used in furniture, lighting and decorative design. A considerable environmental advantage is that the composite is fabricated using low energy, low technology methods, which also makes the material attractive as a commercial proposition. The University s Art and Design Research Centre is now working with a manufacturer which plans to employ an additional fifteen staff to produce the composite under licence. In the United States similar initiatives are demonstrating how eco-design can play a key part in new models of sustainable economic development. Economists, such as Rifkin, are suggesting that the so-called "third sector" - located between the state and private sectors, often community based - is the fastest growing source of employment in industrialised economies.17. One firm in the Bronx of New York exemplifies third sector enterprise. The not- for-profit Big City Forest recycling and manufacturing facility makes furniture out of wooden pallets. Now four years old, the company employs 37 people in an area of high unemployment making use of a material that accounts for 40% of the country s waste wood.18. The United States now has dedicated business magazines, trade fairs, retail and other networks to support its growing sustainable sector. Perhaps it is insignificant in comparison with the mainstream economy, but such enterprise, like the exhibits in this craft show, represent exemplars. They demonstrate how things could be made, how business could be conducted if ethical practice were allowed greater presence in our material and commercial cultures. towards a new relevance for craft Too often craft refers to the past. In a generally frightening age, providing a security blanket of familiarity and tradition helps take our minds of other concerns. Too often craft refers only to its maker. Acts of therapeutic self- indulgence takes the maker s mind off other concerns and can provide objects of beauty and studies in skill, worthy of contemplation. But, valid through they are, such approaches are only a part of what craft is capable of contributing to our culture. Craft is about humanity s creative relationship with materials - how we think, feel, look at and use all the diverse natural and synthetic materials available to us. That relationship has long been out of balance, and needs urgently to be reconsidered. Craft, as a professional practice, provides us with the knowledge we need to address some key problems. Craft, as part of our leisure and learning, helps us appreciate the quality in materials and objects. Craft, as a social process, links together makers, users and manufacturers. Craft, as part of our industry, provides innovation driven more by a balanced materialism and less by unfettered desire. Craft, as this exhibition demonstrates, has far more value for the world of tomorrow than the world of yesterday. "The design of garbage should become the great public design of our age."Mierle Ukeles Artist in Residence, New York City Department of Sanitation, 1995 References 1: Pye, D (1969) The nature and art of
workmanship , Cambridge University Press 2: Marx, K and Engels, F (1973)
The Communist Manifesto , in The revolutions of 1848 ,
Penguin Books, p. 70 3: See, for example, Elinor, G et al (eds) (1987) Women and craft ,
Virago Press 4: Various examples of such Third
World ?thrift
craft are featured in Victor Papanek s latest book: The
green imperative: ecology and ethics in design and
architecture , 1995, Thames & Hudson. This develops
the themes of his earlier and highly influential Design
for the real world: human ecology and social change ,
1984, Thames & Hudson. 5: Papanek, V (1984) Design for the real world , Thames
& Hudson, p. ix. 6: Whiteley, N (1993) Design for society , p.3. This book
provides a clear elaboration and powerful critique of
consumer-led demand, detailing a range of initiatives
characterised as ?green design . 7: Papanek, V (1995) The green imperative:
ecology and ethics in design and architecture , p.236 8: Manzini, E (1994) Design, environment and
social quality p.40, in Myerson, J (ed) (1994) Design
Renaissance: selected papers from the International
Design Congress, Glasgow, Scotland 1993 , Open Eye. 9: Pye, D , op cit 10: Press, M (1995) It s research, Jim... , co-design
journal, vol. 1, no. 2 11: Dormer, P (1990) The meanings of modern
design , Thames & Hudson. 12: Schon, D (1983) The reflective practitioner
, Basic Books. 13: Walker, D (1994) The ABC of design , co-design
journal, vol.1 no.1 14: Crafts Council (1987) The new spirit in craft &
design: a Crafts Council touring exhibition ; Thackara, J
(ed) (1986) New British design , Thames & Hudson. 15: Jencks, C and
Silver, N (1973) Adhocism: the case for
improvisation , Anchor Books 16: Thackara, J, op cit, p.12. 17: Rifkin, J (1995) The end of work as we know it , Demos
Quarterly, Issue 5. 18: Eco alert:pallet-able design, I.D.,(May/June 1994),p16
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