Nature of Things
Nature of Things is a series of installations devised to observe the gradual becoming and disintegration of things. Sculptural objects made with natural, organic, biodegradable materials, including waste flowers, shellac, beeswax and resin, and, occasionally, cooking flour, sugar, or sand, provide a field for experimentation that takes as a starting point a critical commentary on the ideas of consumerism and planned obsolescence that contribute to the culture of waste. Interested in giving objects an element of life on their own, we have acknowledged the importance of decay as an inherent and equally valid element in the processes of transformation and creation. We view the rotting, fading and collapse that occur over time as progression rather than failure. Nature comes as an active agent in this process.
In sharp contrast with fossil plastics, the perishable composite we developed was designed to eventually decay without leaving a negative footprint – dissolving in soil, blending into the natural environment it came from, or being consumed by a special set of enzymes developed in collaboration with Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle and the CTR CATAR CRITT Agroressources in Toulouse, France.
Strangely familiar, you are driven by the contradictory forces of creating and keeping, obliterating and letting go, hoping to become something more than the dust you’re made of.
Often juxtaposed in specially built incubators or artistic installations along with scraps of found metal – corroded and disintegrated, deployed of former context and use – the Perishable pieces, displayed at different stages of decomposition, reference recognisable, domestic forms, everyday items and architectural elements, as well as archetypal, symbolic shapes that, abstracted into sculptural forms, echo the world around us.
Similar to objects of everyday use, designed with planned obsolescence, the shellac-mix sculptures might have a limited lifespan dictated by the natural processes that overtake them. Due to the raw materials used, the objects are extremely fragile to temperature changes, UV light and humidity. Unless properly cared for in a stable, controlled environment, they can slowly disintegrate and perish over time. We encourage their owners to become their custodians, either protecting them in their stable environment or assisting them in their ever-evolving existence.
| YEAR: 2014-Ongoing |
TEAM: Marcin Rusak Tamara Pilawska-Baranowska Tessa Silva Dawson Adam Bialek Olga Michaluk Mateusz Wappa |
SPECIALISTS: LCA-CRT CATAR CRITT Agroressources Laury-Hann Briere (Researcher) |
EXHIBITIONS: Design Sediments, Rotterdam Bio 27, Ljubljana Unnatural Practice, Milan Plant Fever, Grand Hornu/Zurich/Dresden William Morris Gallery, London Jerwood Foundation, London Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke |