Craft Australia

Winding Up February Update #1

2012-02-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

February Update #1

Image: Andrew Welch 1988, Three Rings, Makers Mark Rings Award

As many of you will now be aware, Craft Australia has been defunded by the Visual Arts Board (VAB) of the Australia Council for the Arts. This decision was an outcome of a minor review of the key organisations supported by the VAB. The reason given for defunding Craft Australia is that it was too reliant on Government support and was not meeting the needs of the sector, both of which Craft Australia has challenged.

With your support Craft Australia has had an extension of funding till the end of April 2012 as opposed to having to close the doors of the organisation by the end of December 2011. This extension will ensure that the programs that have been established by Craft Australia and the historical and visual archives of the Australian studio craft movement that we have collected over the past 40 years are not lost to the sector. Our aim is to pass on this material to cultural institutions that will become the new custodians of this history. This will ensure that the cultural legacy of the Australian craft and design sector from the late 1960s to the present day is not lost.

The Present

Craft Australia is officially operating in winding-up mode. As a result of this we will not be sending out any more CA enews. The last issue of CA enews was published in December 2011 and it contains all the details about the closure of the organisation.

Craft Australia will however continue to keep you informed about our progress with regular online updates. We will send these to you in the same way you received the ca enews. The updates will let you know what we are up to and how we are progressing with passing on Craft Australia’s holdings.

The Future

As part of the winding up process, Craft Australia is ensuring that as many of its activities and programs remain accessible for future use by passing them over to new host organisations. Some of the programs we are in the process of future proofing include the historical archives of the organisation. These have been deemed to be of national historical significance and was the basis for Craft Australia receiving a Community Heritage Grant from the National Library of Australia to preserve these records.

Other assets we are passing on are the online programs and activities developed by Craft Australia over the past 8 years. These include the Craft Australia website, the craft+design enquiry journal, the Selling Yarns website and the rightway online hub will also be passed on to appropriate organisations to ensure continued access to this material. We will let you know how this transfer of assets progresses.

What you can do

We have had enormous support from our readers and subscribers including many from overseas through our online petition. Many of these responses are on the Craft Australia website. We thank you for your feedback. Over1800 people have signed the petition. This support has been a valuable indicator proving that in fact Craft Australia is relevant to the sector and people are concerned about this decision by the Australia Council.

The petition is still live on the Craft Australia home page and we welcome your feedback.

Catrina Vignando
Craft Australia
February 2012

Related Links

Read Submissions
Final ca enews

Happy Christmas from Craft Australia

2011-12-19T17:17:00.000-08:00

Direct Digital Print: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-12-15T23:04:00.000-08:00

Direct Digital Print has been exploring the advantages, both design and environmental, of digital printing on fabric since 1999. We were originally attracted to the process in order to offer our fashion clients the opportunity to do quick turn-around sampling.

However, the more we used the process, the more we realised its possibilities. We now know that digital printing is an excellent way to reduce water, ink and material waste in the textile printing industry, as well as reduce product wastage for our clients. From a creative viewpoint, it also offers greater design and creative flexibility.

Image: Julie Ryder, Transmorphing 1 (detail) 2011, Reprinted with permission of the artist. Image copyright Julie Ryder, registered with Viscopy.

Digital printing allows our clients and our textile design studio the possibility to do sampling, small run productions, and one-off textile pieces in a print-to-order capacity. This minimises wastage and eliminates the need to store unnecessary stock.

We specialise in direct printing onto natural fibre fabrics using inkjet technology, and also sublimate onto polyester. With either option, we print only what is needed by ourselves or our clients. This allows clients to print as little as one metre of fabric to trial their product before ordering exactly how much they need for their season, production run or individual project.

The flexibility of the process, and the very low minimum waste, means we can cater to a large variety of creatives - designers, artists, illustrators, photographers, students and crafts people, and indeed anyone interested in printing their own images.

The process also allows us to assist businesses starting out, offering them the opportunity to start small and grow as their customer base grows, reordering their product at anytime. We keep all files and information in our library ready to recall when needed, completely removing the need for businesses to keep excess stock.

We have been working with textile artist Julie Ryder for a number of years on specialised projects. Ryder's design work is often complicated digital imagery (see top image), that can really only be reproduced using digital printing. Each piece is individual, with a rare few being reprinted. For each design, Julie normally requires only a few metres - not achievable with traditional printing methods due to the excessive volume of minimum print runs. The flexibility of "print-to-order" allows Julie to do one-off pieces or reprint should she need to.

We are continually inspired by this technology and it’s possibilities, and are committed to promoting the sustainable nature of not only the process, but the business model it supports.

In each of these case studies, the client ordered (and continues to order) only what is needed.

Image above: Lisa Haymes, homewares - Lisa is a photographer and was interested in using different media and context for her images. Her original order was a pair of each image to make up her samples, and on her next order she was able to double her numbers.

Image above: Katelyn Aslett Couture: Katelyn is well-known for hand-crafted felted garments. She came to us wanting to translate her work onto silk. Her work was ideal for digital printing, as the digital process retains fine detail of the original image. You can see the texture of her felting clearly in the textile print. Her original order was a few metres to make up her sampling, and since then she has regularly re-ordered various quantities depending on customer requests.

Image above: Sara Philips, fashion label: Sara started her fashion label about 3 years ago, originally ordering only a few metres of two prints to inject colour into her range. Now we do her sampling for each season, and then go to production once orders from her buyers are finalised. Each season has grown well - from 20m in her first year, to 400m in her last spring collection, which was majority print.

Links

Digital Direct Printing website

Sustainability Stories link

Sustainability blogs

2011-12-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Supercyclers blog

Liane Rossler blog

Climarte website

Bindarri website

Have you signed the defunding petition

2011-12-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support.

What will you lose if Craft Australia is lost to the Australian craft and design sector.

The ramifications of not having a national peak organisation representing the craft and design sector are significant.

There will be no visible national portal to represent the work of the many artists, designers, gallerists, curators, writers and researchers working in this field.

Australia will be the only OECD country without a dedicated agency to advocate and promote the work of this area of practice.

The many initiatives that Craft Australia has been advocating for that link craft and design with innovation and industry will be lost.

Substantial digital content about this sector will be lost, creating a significant knowledge gap about our cultural traditions.

How you can help:

Sign our petition
Forward to petition to friends and interested parties
Write to the Visual Arts Board, Chair: Ted Snell email
Write to the Minister for the Arts Simon Crean MP contact details
Write to the Shadow Minister for the Arts George Brandis SC contact details
Write to your local Minister

Sam Parsons: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-12-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

Sam Parsons of Studio Sam

To me sustainability goes beyond material selection, recycling and minimizing environmental and social impacts. These should go without saying. To me sustainability is about asking the bigger questions. Do we really need more designer furniture? Does the design contribute something worthwhile? Will the design be desirable in the future? Could it possibly become a heirloom to be valued for generations to come? if not, what happens to the item when it is no longer desirable?

As a designer I grapple with questions like these on a constant basis. I am consequently committed to designing solutions that have real purpose, respond to everyday needs, are adaptable, contribute to the quality of life, can transcend transient fashion, and importantly challenge society’s 'throw away' mentality.

The Studio Sam products that have resulted from this approach could be placed into two broad categories: 1) those that involve reuse and 2) those that address a real issue.

1. REUSE

The Booksmith range and the Betty Blue / Blue Print ranges demonstrate reuse. The former exhibits reappropriation while the later retains the original function.

The Booksmith range as the name suggests consists of products handmade from discarded hardback books which have outlived their intended function. The reuse of books, mminimises the need for raw materials and in some cases helps to divert materials going to landfill. The range includes the Bookscreen, Siena the Bookblock Table, Dust Jacket Gift Cards, gift tags and notebooks.

The Booksmith range gives the books (or parts of) a new role and value. In the case of the Bookscreen, the books now form part of a more permanent collection, one that has a new functional role and is prized for its aesthetic merits. Each screen, being an individual, is appropriately given a christen name and a certificate of authenticity which adds further reverence to the screen. Bookscreen won a Victorian Premiers Design Award in 2008.

Image: Bookscreens can be custom made to a specific size or colour composition. Ruby the Bookscreen was a commissioned piece consisting of 64 books. Helga the Bookscreen consisted of 18 books and was only 3 books high. Photographer Peter Bennetts

Bookscreen builds on the character of the original books. The colourful covers (which are still in good working order) are removed, arranged according to colour and reassembled utilising traditional book binding techniques. The sturdy covers provide structure while the book spines provide the hinges for the concertinaed screen. Some of the pages from the books are reused to line the back of the screen. Bookscreen celebrates the high quality craftsmanship of the original books and provides (in a day of increased digital technology) a tactile reminder of how books used to be made.

Bookscreen is portable, flexible and adaptable. It is an ideal privacy screen or delineator of space in the open plan house, retail or corporate environment. The screen can be reversed to provide a totally different character. Lower screens (eg upto 3 books high) provide an alternative to standard workstation privacy screens.

Image: Siena the Bookblock Tables are functional, sturdy paper structures. Photographer Geoffrey Marsh

Siena the Bookblock Table is constructed from, as the name suggests, the bookblocks (or pages) that have been removed from the cover. No additional glue or toxic materials are used in the construction. It is the original spine of the book that provides the main structure, along with the folded pages. This material simplicity enables the table to be easily recycled if required.

The appeal of Siena comes from not only its surprisingly sturdy, sculptural form but also from the beauty of the original pages themselves. The quality paper, varied themes, bright colours and vibrant images are put on show and given new appreciation.

While designing Siena I resisted producing a table top: 1) so the sculptural form was not hidden and 2) because it would have required the introduction of new materials which was against the principles of Siena. The intention was for a tray / plate / glass / book (whatever you have at home) to be placed on top when required to provide a surface.

Image: Dust Jacket Gift Cards are hand-made blank giftcards. Each is an original and comes with a100% recycled (post consumer waste) envelope. Photographer Sam Parsons

After making the screens and Siena there are left over book parts. I subsequently created several other products to join the Booksmith range as a means of minimising any waste. This is perhaps epitomised, by the Dust Jacket Gift Cards. These handmade cards are made from the original dust jackets. They are prized for their varied themes and titles, the nostalgia they create and their quality artwork among other attributes. These cards are only made when the dust jackets are available / left over. They are therefore limited in supply due to the very nature of their existence.

Other products that have been produced for the Booksmith range from time to time include gift tags, notebooks, wrapping paper and presentation folders. Once again, these items are only produced when there are left over book parts available and the need arises. On other occasions, I have also used books (or parts of) to create installations or one off commissions.

Image left: The Booksmith Gift Tags were devised to utilise the pages left over from the construction of Bookscreen and Siena the Bookblock Table. Photographer Sam Parsons

Image right: The Booksmith Notebooks is made from 2 (double sided) discarded hard back book covers. Custom made notepads can be slipped in to the covers and refilled as required. The intention was to give the covers an ongoing role so their use was no longer limited by their contents. photographer Sam Parsons

Image left: A commission for the Clara Display Suite, Melbourne. Stylist Megan Morton. Photographer Tim James

Image right: An installation titled 'Tomorrow'. Discarded hardback journal covers (given to me by a library) were used to create an undulating landscape for the display of homewares. Photographer Geoffrey Marsh

The Betty Blue range also demonstrates reuse. Decals were applied to found, mis-matched, 'as good as new’ ceramic crockery. The concept was not purely about redecorating the ceramics. The intention was to go a step further and address one possible reason the plates were discarded in the first place; that being their separation from their original set. After all un-matching crockery is typically undesirable. Betty Blue created new sets which restored the plates role and value.

Although each of the resulting ceramic pieces were different, they were related to one another through the application of blue and white circular motifs. The artwork was based on found, traditional blue and white patterned plates which themselves were incorporated into the new limited edition Betty Blue sets.

Similarly the Blueprint range (which was a collaborative effort between Studio Sam and Lightly in 2009) also reuses found ceramic plates. This range continued on the basic design concept behind Betty Blue. The designs however were rationalised rendering them suitable for small production runs. The resulting limited edition wall plates were produced and distributed in Australia by Lightly. The range won the Home Beautiful, Product of the Year (Home Accessories) award in 2009.

Image left: The Blueprint (left) and Betty Blue (right) ranges create new sets from found, mis-matched crockery. photographers Lightly (left) and Peter Bennetts

2. ADDRESSING AN ISSUE

A case study in this category would be Outee; a range of outdoor furniture that Studio Sam is currently working on. The modular furniture is designed with small scale outdoor spaces in mind. It was initiated to address real needs, in particular the challenges of urban growth. As we are faced with increased population growth we will see more small scale outdoor spaces. Although there are a variety of outdoor furniture products on the market, few cater specifically for these smaller spaces. Outee provides a spatial solution, one that aims to improve the function and efficient use of these spaces and ultimately contribute to the quality of life.

Outee is being developed with life-cycle in mind; from material selection and efficiency through to production, distribution, use and end-of-life. Importantly the range was designed for longevity and adaptability to try and minimize premature obsolescence. A Lifecycle Matrix has been prepared to provide a preliminary assessment of Outee and a prediction of how it may perform over time.

Outee is not a product that is going to solve the problems of the world or mitigate major environmental problems but it is a small, positive measure that does address real issues that would contribute to the well-being of society.

Sam Parsons is a design practitioner and the director of Studio Sam. The Brisbane based design studio focuses on interior design, landscape architecture and product design.

Links

Studio Sam website

Sustainability stories link

Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Nick Randall: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-11-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

My recent work has focused on material minimisation by creating structures using slender pieces of timber aligned in ways to provide strength to the piece. These structures also function as aesthetic elements. I have exposed these structures completely enabling them to be the major focus point.

The major influence for this approach comes from the world of engineering where industrial structures are built to be completely utilitarian with their appearance not considered. I feel though that while these structures as a whole are not the most attractive sights they feature elements which are unintentionally quite beautiful forms which reveal an inner beauty when considered.

I find this an interesting notion, these industrial structures which were created for purposes one would not usually consider sustainable were designed by engineers to be built using the least amount of resources possible which is in very general terms a sustainable approach to design.

This made me think are we as designers somehow unsustainable in our approach at times through the addition of unnecessary adornment and therefore resources for aesthetics sake to our work? This is a somewhat Brutalist way of thinking but an interesting one none the less. I think that there is a middle ground in terms of balancing aesthetics with resource usage and the intrinsic value added to a beautiful object through adornment means that it will not be readily disposed of.

My Tangent table utilities a very small quantity of material for its size (1200mm x 600mm x 420mm). The leg and rail structure are one connected element with the wishbone configuration of the leg structure providing strength through triangulation and the side and end rails double as edging for the table top. The entire structure only uses one board of solid timber 1800mm x 150mm x 38mm a very small quantity of precious timber for the purpose it serves.

Sustainable design at this time I feel is overly focussed on just using sustainable materials. Sustainable materials are a major element of a sustainable approach to design but I don’t see that using large quantities of sustainable materials instead of large quantities of unsustainable materials an overly sustainable approach. Rather I think that a more holistic approach should be taken by utilising a combination of methods to ensure a sustainable result. Some of these methods include minimising material usage through considered well thought out design, producing work with a high level of craftsmanship to increase its lifespan and possibly negate the need to recycle but for it to simply be refurbished far into the future and creating objects that are timeless in their aesthetic and not just reacting to short term market trends.

I find our consumer culture with its throw away mindset quite disheartening. We seem to have lost our sense of the value of our possessions. I think that the best way of all for us to foster sustainability is to simply consume less by focusing on quality and through our own work produce objects which will be the antiques of tomorrow and still cherished a many years from now and far too precious to throw away.

Links

Nick Randall website

Sustainability stories link

Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

What people are saying

2011-11-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

The following are example of open letters to the Arts Minister, The Hon Mr Simon Crean and local ministers.

Crafts downgraded by the Australia Council again

Helmut Lueckenhausen

In a review of 40 key organizations 12-13 September, the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council decided to bring a 40-year history of national and international advocacy for the Australian craft design sector by CA to an end. Others have written, and will continue to draw attention to the issue of the inadequacy of the process, even in accordance with the Australia Council’s own published procedural guidelines. Read more

OPEN LETTER: Why would you defund a cultural institution?

Ray Norman

RE: Why would you defund a cultural institution?

Firstly, it must be said that neither you personally, nor your ministry, are seen as having defunded Craft Australia – an Australian Cultural Institution – but the 'institution' has nonetheless been defunded by the Australia Council's Visual Arts Board (VAB) [1] and ultimately in your name – albeit at arms' length. Read more

LETTER TO A LOCAL MEMBER: An expression of dismay!

Marion Marshall
I am writing to register my dismay that Craft Australia the National peak organization for the Crafts has been given notice that it will be defunded by the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council.
As a craftsperson (a gold and silversmith) who has operated her studio and gallery for 37 years, successfully building a creative business which has employed and trained 19 people. Read more

To send your letter in response to the defunding of Craft Australia more information
Read submissions about the defunding of Craft Australia Read more
Comments on the petition Read more

New Articles in the Craft Australia Library

2011-11-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Catalogue essay:

Grace Cochrane, Here by hand: 70 years of Sturt.
Read more

Catalogue essay:

Patrick Snelling, Textiles Sensorial Loop. 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial. read more

Tale of Adventure:

Diane Moon, Seven Islands - curating Land, Sea and Sky, a tale of adventure. read more

Top Ten articles read more

Laura McCusker: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-11-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

1957. Rio de Janeiro. My mother, aged 15, looks out the window. She’s waiting for a chair. A chair that has been measured, designed and handcrafted in Jacaranda just for her by the local maker down the road. When my grandmother died, this chair was shipped from Brazil to Sydney, then down to Tasmania for my young daughter. Although she shouldn’t, she swings on it the just as her grandmother's did fifty years earlier.

This is furniture with a story. Furniture made to last. Handcrafted, to be used and loved. In my mind this is deep sustainability. After all, an item that is made well can be mended and re-made again.

Mums chair and portrait of mum

My aim as a designer and maker is that my work will inspire stories such as this one. I design objects that are appealing on different levels; pieces that people will enjoy relating to and using. They need to be beautiful, useful, and perform the task for which they were designed, well. Not just for this season or for this decade; but indefinitely.

I am passionate about combining traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design...The philosophy of Slow Design resonates strongly with me, I seek to infuse my work with a richness that deepens the ways in which people connect with my pieces. As much as possible, I am integral in every step of the process, from design through to manufacture and delivery.

Living in Tasmania, I am acutely aware of the precious resource with which I work. The idea of buying a piece of furniture for a look or as part of a fad promotes the wider problems of our throw-away society. The limited availability of natural resources is an important issue in my design, and so I aim for a timeless aesthetic and ensure longevity through the use of the highest quality materials and traditional joinery techniques.

Slow Design is a branch of the Slow Movement (personally, I think ‘slow’ is a misnomer ... better to think of it as thoughtful, considered or deliberate), and as with every branch of the movement, the overarching goal is to promote well being for individuals, society, and the natural environment. Slow Design aims for a holistic approach to designing that takes into consideration material and social factors and both the short and long term impacts of the design.

Naked table, Photographer Peter Whyte

Fuad-Luke nailed it in 2005 when he wrote: “What is clear is that modernist, organic, post-modern or any other doctrine with recognisable semiotics, is easily subverted in the service of industry and to the glory of consumerism and economic progress. ... Corporate ambition, encouraged by the capitalist political doctrine, continues to ensure that inbuilt obsolescence, the touchstone of industrial design, keeps producers producing, consumers consuming and designers designing.” .... the question then becomes, what am I going to do about it?

I have made a conscious decision whenever possible, to produce using local materials for the local market, working with other local practitioners. Invariably this means that my work develops a local flavour and collaborations encourage the vernacular. But more than this, working in this way is about pulling back on the reins and taking time to do things well, do them responsibly, and do them in a way that allows the designer and the end user to derive pleasure from it ...or in other words: put some soul into it.

The reason for the resurgence of craft in the last decade seems to me fairly self-evident. Manufacture and design has now become so globalised that cultural influences are fast disappearing with shops on opposite sides of the planet selling more or less the same items, whether it be foods, furniture or footwear. This fact has generated a deep desire for authenticity, and when this is combined with increasing environmental awareness, the purchasing decisions become more weighted according to sustainability and local sourcing.

Barcode is a screen with multiple uses, Photographer Peter Whyte

For me, designing and making is an organic process, inseparable from the everyday goings on of my life. Moments of inspiration such as making origami with my children, a barcode on my cereal box, or the light flickering through stands of trees often form the seed of an idea. This is layered upon the cross-cultural influences of my childhood; the knowledge and skills gained through studies in design and fine woodwork; and an intimate knowledge of the materials I work with. As I chat with clients in my workshop and they see their furniture taking shape, these influences and layers are shared, and hopefully, so begin their stories.

Links

Laura McCusker website

Twenty21 website
Craft Australia interview with Laura McCusker on youtube

Sustainability stories link

Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Sign the Petition

2011-11-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Dear friends and supporters of Craft Australia,

Since we were notified on 12 October that the organisation will not receive any more program funding from the Visual Arts board of the Australia Council beyond the end of December 2011, we have had overwhelming response in support for Craft Australia. We thank you for this amazing show of strength for craft and design practice. Responses have come from our readers and supporters from all over the world.

We are sending you this update to keep you informed of the developments in our campaign to save Craft Australia and how you can continue to help us.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Make your voice heard in support for craft and design.

Spread the word, pass this notice on to your friends and networks, get them to do the same.
Sign our online petition. The more people that sign, the stronger our argument for the importance of a national craft and design organisation.
Write a comment on our blog, tell us how this will impact on you.
Write a letter to the Visual Arts Board and tell them what you think, please send us a copy as well so we are all on the same page
Write a letter to the Arts Minister, the Hon. Simon Crean MP
Write a letter to your local government member

With your help we can show that craft and design matters.

Again, thank you for your ongoing support; we will keep you informed of our progress.

Catrina Vignando

General Manager

Related links

Sign our petition

Follow the Story

CA, Presidents letter to the Visual Arts Board
Review Committee letter

Kent Gration: Musing on sustainability

2011-11-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

What is Sustainable?

General acceptance of the term “sustainable” goes hand-in-hand with conducting well-maintained practices, which are environmentally and sociologically aware. These practices, by definition, should be able to be maintained to a certain standard without impairing the planet’s ability to support all forms of life for an indefinite period of time.

What concerns me is the flippant use of phrases such as “sustainable”, “eco-friendly” and “green” and the cynicism that will follow when the general public realise they’ve been manipulated by the ambiguity of these terms.

A product is considered to be “sustainable” based upon current and future management of available resources (renewable and non-renewable), hence some materials are more “sustainable” than others. The term “sustainable” when used in conjunction with selling a product, is becoming more diluted as businesses scramble for a piece of the “Green Pie”. Sustainable, may also relate to the general running of a company, it’s financial position and ability to meet market demand based upon forecast modelling. A company that markets it’s product as “green” in order to sell or unnecessarily make more of it, may in fact counteract the environmental benefits gained by switching to a “greener” option, requiring more energy, materials and finances to meet higher production or demand.

Image: Tectonic, Tectonic was created as part of the Miniatures and Multiples exhibition (SGAR gallery)

The fundamental driver of sustainability is the rate at which, and how we consume resources, in connection with events outside our control.

Over-consumption is only created by oversupply and its impact is amplified with increases in global standards-of-living in accordance with global affluence. As the population grows, so does the number of designers, and as design becomes more democratised, true is the adage that “everyone wants to be a designer”. So do we really need all these new products (necessary and unnecessary), creating an oversupply in the marketplace, and impairing the planet’s ability as a biological support system. The answer to that comes down to design awareness, rather than design for design’s sake. How many designers have stopped to think that there are more chairs in the world than people? In what way is it an environmental and social imperative that more chairs need to be designed and produced, unless you’re using furniture as a medium to communicate that there are better, more environmentally preferred materials and processes to make chairs with, that needn’t be a memorial to a designer long after they’re gone?

By definition it is impossible to classify a product as “sustainable”, as there are no assurances that our quality of life, ecological standard, and resource availability will endure indefinitely, or that every single process in the supply chain is environmentally-aware. The most realistic assumption of sustainability modelling is a generational projection, the here, the now and not to distant future, based upon what we have and know today. Therefore, it is only the next generation who will encounter and have to address the miscalculations in our “sustainable” models.

Image: Wambamboo, Zhu lights

As a result of the ambiguous use of “sustainable” associations, and the fact that all resources (renewable and non-renewable) are finite, many governments and businesses have not properly implemented conservative supply and demand ratios. They have in fact opted for more aggressive strategies, in order to compete on a world stage that is driven by increasing resource demand, production expectations and profit margins. The problem with these strategies is that they’re not able to fully allow for, and react to future supply issues and events, such as climate change, reduction of available materials, delay in proposed technologies, political upheaval and a growing global population.

Image: Wambamboo, Zhu pendant lights

In order to be truly sustainable, governments and businesses must conservatively self-regulate their consumption and production levels, in order to find a rational supply and demand ratio. This may inturn achieve an equilibrium within a global consumptive ecological system.

Examples of ecological equilibrium are found in nature and the human race must adopt these symbiotic relationships to remain “sustainable”

in the future.

Links

Wambamboo website

Sustainability stories link

Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Wambamboo: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-11-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Kent Gration

Practice

The key objectives within my practice are to research, use and indirectly promote environmentally-aware alternative materials (with a focus on bamboo at this point) through the medium of furniture and other product derived outcomes. By designing, using and promoting the use of bamboo in the Wambamboo range, this is assisting in reducing our reliance upon heavily depleted renewables and finite resources. As a designer working in the realms of product and furniture, I constantly witness the de-activation of our ability to be self-sufficient with the constant re-invention of products and materials that increase convenience, yet reduce our experiences and adaptive abilities within the natural world.

Image: Wambamboo, Constellation light

The core principles behind the Wambamboo range were to highlight a material that was seen as somewhat sub-standard aesthetically and practically, but had a wide range of environmental, sociological, material and advanced product application benefits. The initial pieces in the range, created at the end of 2006 (exhibited at the Salone Satellite 2007), were an altrusitic statement in design, and at the time “sustainability” or environmentally-aware factors were not the primary focus. In using bamboo, designers such as myself have universally changed the perception of materials (renewable and recycled) which have been viewed as lack lustre within modern contexts.

Wambamboo and Material Use

All pieces in the Wambamboo range use bamboo - a rapidly renewable material with a 5-6 year growth cycle. Bamboo is durable and an environmentally preferred material which has been used for thousands of years in buildings, as a food source and ornamental plant. Bamboo poles, laminated boards, veneers and textiles have been used to highlight the versatility of bamboo and it’s potential as a high-end material.

Image: Wambamboo, Constellation light

In assessing materials for the Wambamboo range, I considered two

fundamentals: Carbon Productive and Carbon Reductive materials and processes. Moso (Phyllostachys Pubescens) is endemic to the central Asia region and is a monopodial (spreading) variety of bamboo, therefore it cannot be grown in Australia. Unless bamboo products are made and sold in central Asia, this is a major component of Moso Bamboos carbon footprint, which is largely offset by it’s ability to sequester carbon (500kg of carbon per tonne of bamboo). Within my practice I’m investigating three native Australian species including Bambusa Arnhemica and researching locally grown plantations in terms of commercial viability and to reduce the embodied energy of freight, whilst fully localising material sourcing and production.

Bamboo used in the range is grown without the use of pesticides or fertilisers, whilst the major plant system is kept intact after harvesting. The propagation of bamboo increases soil quality, whilst reducing soil erosion and bamboo is technically a grass species, therefore reducing the reliance and consumptive impact on slow growth native and introduced plantation wood species and materials.

Image: Wambamboo, O+ table and seats

Production

Bamboo accounts for 95%+ of furniture material content within the pieces in the Wambamboo range, whilst secondary materials and products used are recyclable, water-based or energy efficient. Importance is placed upon using low impact/low energy production methods such as CNC and localised production.

All pieces are designed to efficiently use the material to its full potential during production process to reduce waste. CNC processes are employed to increase accuracy and reduce workplace accidents. Pieces are then hand-assembled and finished to a high standard, with attention to detail. Production is restricted to confirmation of orders, so production will never oversupply the market nor overconsume the resource. All bamboo waste remnants are re-used, whilst e-waste and paper waste is recycled.

Image: Wambamboo, costello seat

Pieces are more expensive than similar cheap mass-produced pieces of furniture, because of the cost of the materials, processes and craftsmanship involved, ensuring investment in local skilled labour as well as international investment in developing communities. All furniture components are produced in Brisbane with all assembly of components into furniture carried out in Integration Studio’s Brisbane premises.

By factoring in the higher price of skilled labour and high-level of craftsmanship and a refined design aesthetic, this inturn reduces the likelihood of a consumer discarding or throwing the product away.

Sadly, as consumers, we are more inclined to buy ten $20 seats than one $200 seat without thinking whether we really need all ten seats.

We’re also more inclined to throw away those ten $20 seats rather than the $200 which may last a life-time, appreciating in material, sentimental and economic value.

Links
Wambamboo website
Sustainability stories link
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craft research: Craft Australia Need Us!!

2011-11-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

International Support for CA

Read the link below to see what they are saying in Scotland about defunding Craft Australia.

craft research: Craft Australia Need Us!!: Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking our support. If Craf...

Yellow Diva: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-11-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

2-3™ by CK Goff for Yellow Diva

CK Goff and Yellow Diva have collaborated to create 2-3™, a new flat pack plywood chair that bridges the divide between furniture and product. Presented, jigsaw fashion, in an attractive cardboard carry box, the ingenious design has rigorously explored the most economical use of materials.

Designer Chris Goff describes the theory behind his design:

“The 2-3 Chair was designed with efficiency, sustainability and technology firmly in mind. The concept of this chair is to obtain every piece from within a limited space on a flat sheet of material, and assemble the final product using no screws, glue or fixings. The profiles are CNC cut from 16mm birch plywood using a common-cut nested layout that leaves minimal waste. When assembled, the chair is designed so that each tab/slot join stiffens itself through compression generated by the angles and splayed legs. The application of weight to the seat pulls everything more tightly together.

After the initial sketching/idea generation process, designing the object was done almost exclusively in CAD software, alternating between two Solidworks assemblies built from common parts. This allowed me to edit sketches in a flat layout to affect the assembled chair, and vice versa. The only additions post-cutting are the cable ties on the back piece. This was both an aesthetic and practical decision, ensuring the back is secure when moving the chair.”

Yellow Diva sourced a local manufacturer who is able to provide a one-stop-shop, supplying and cutting material for both product and packaging. Low volume production of components obviates holding surplus stock and short lead times facilitate a swift response to customer demand.

2-3™ Adult chair is now joined by a Junior chair & table. By devising multiple variations on cutting layouts, dependent on order requirements, further efficiency is achievable from each stock sheet of plywood .

Another ecological benefit of the slimline packaging is cost-effective and straightforward transportation from manufacturer to retailer and retailer to customer.

2-3™ is available directly through Yellow Diva & selected retail outlets.
Sales inquiries: info@yellowdiva.com or 03 9421 8844

Links

Yellow Diva website

Sustainability stories link
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Share Your Stories survey

Sebastian Clarke: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

Sebastian Lights

I'm an independent industrial designer focusing on lighting. I drew inspiration for 'Stadium' table/wall light from industrial waste, It was when I stumbled across discarded light globes once used in football stadiums that I realised their potential. These large beautiful glass bulbs were destined for landfill and I have since sourced a consistent supply of discarded bulbs and up-cylce them into decorative wall and table lights.

I find people connect with the product due to the interesting glass shape, once they find out it is re-used it gives the product more depth and meaning, small imperfections become a mark of character and integrity. I am now working toward making a full collection using these glass pieces, For now I have a table and wall light, a pendant and floor light will be resolved in order to complete the range.

Inspired by the Dadaist movement and artists like Marcel Duchamp, the pioneer of "Found object" artwork, I will continue to experiment with found objects and industrial waste. The blend of old and new creates a beautiful juxtaposition of materials and this mix is undoubtedly paramount to my products success. I believe that experimentation, trial and mostly error are the foundations of innovative design.

Images: supplied by Sebastian Clarke

Links

Sebastian Lights website

Tongue and Groove website

Sustainability Stories Link

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Save Craft Australia

2011-10-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support.

What will you lose if Craft Australia is lost to the Australian craft and design sector.

The ramifications of not having a national peak organisation representing the craft and design sector are significant.

There will be no visible national portal to represent the work of the many artists, designers, gallerists, curators, writers and researchers working in this field.

Australia will be the only OECD country without a dedicated agency to advocate and promote the work of this area of practice.

The many initiatives that Craft Australia has been advocating for that link craft and design with innovation and industry will be lost.

Substantial digital content about this sector will be lost, creating a significant knowledge gap about our cultural traditions.

How you can help:

Sign our petition
Forward to petition to friends and interested parties
Write to the Visual Arts Board, Chair Ted Snell email
Write to the Minister for the Arts Simon Crean MP contact details
Write to the Shadow Minister for the Arts George Brandis SC contact details
Write to your local Minister

MEDIA RELEASE

2011-10-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

The Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council announced in October that it would defund Craft Australia, the national peak organisation for the craft and design sector. Without its financial support Craft Australia will be forced to close by December 2011 and its significant 40 year legacy will be lost. The network of Australian Craft and Design Centres, (ACDC), support Craft Australia in seeking to revoke the Visual Arts Board, (VAB) decision.

Craft Australia believes the decision by the VAB is unjustified and was made without proper consultation either with Craft Australia or the craft and design sector. The decision has not followed due process or due governance and is in breach of its own documented guidelines. Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking immediate interim funding from the Australia Council.

Robert Reason the President of Craft Australia said:

“The interim funding would allow Craft Australia to restructure in a responsible manner and manage its significant heritage assets and active programs appropriately. It would also send a clear message to the craft and design sector that the Australia Council and through it the Australian Government remains committed to the preservation of our cultural heritage”.

He also said,

“Craft Australia delivers a dynamic and diverse program that promotes and supports Australian craft and design practice nationally and internationally.”

Craft Australia’s website, www.craftaustralia.org.au, has over 1 million unique page visitors annually and provides access to events, exhibitions, and commissioned articles on craft and design. The organisation also engages with readers so they can actively respond to issues through Craft Australia’s social media sites on twitter, facebook and the CA blog, www.craftaustralia.blogspot.com

Some of Craft Australia’s recent achievements in support of the sector include the newly established craft + design enquiry online journal, an international forum for practice based research; the Selling Yarns conferences for contemporary Indigenous craft and design practices and attracting funding to digitise its unique collection of images.

Significantly, Craft Australia ensures that the craft and design sector has a voice on national decision making organisations such the Australian Design Alliance (AdA), ArtsPeak, the National Visual Arts Craft Network (NVACN) and the Council for Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, (CHASS).

Without a national organisation there can be no concerted advocacy position for the Australian craft and design sector. This could leave the sector vulnerable to further erosion of funding.

For more information about the decision to defund Craft Australia, contact

Robert Reason, President of Craft Australia on 02 6273 0088.

Sign the Petition

For more details on the Save Craft Australia action please see the Craft Australia website www.craftaustralia.org.au

Wilma van Boxtel: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Deseos Design – Dutch Design Down Under

Deseos design wants to design and develop producible, attractive and functional products for commercial success and make the world around us better at the same time by introducing sustainability. With innovation, creativity and systematically working we can create extra value for our clients.

Deseos Design combines an extensive experience in European industrial design with the knowledge of Australian resources.

Being the o2WA liaison since 2007 I take my work very seriously especially the impact on the environment. o2 is a global network for sustainable designers. I am a freelance product designer and it’s my duty to inform my clients about the possibilities to improve their product in a sustainable way. During the design process I design to minimize materials and standardize production methods. I work paperless with the best digital programs available and I cycle everywhere, my clients are used to me coming in in my cycle gear with a helmet in hand and the memory stick in the other hand.

One example is the use of EST, Engineered Solid Timber, instead of the full solid local hardwoods like Jarrah and Marri. EST board has a 4mm outer layer of hardwood and a centre of plantation pine which makes it still solid wood but you use less of the precious hardwoods which are getting scarcer by the day. Another advantage is that the wood stays straight even if you use mitered edges like I did in the Space range.

Another example is the Zeopod, a pouf made from biodegradable plastic. Zelfo is a plastic made from industrial hemp and therefore very strong and natural. I sourced all materials consciously, the textile is GECA certified wool from Sustainable Living Fabrics and the foam is also GECA certified. I had thought about using a natural material for the pouf but I opted for sustainable produced foam instead because of sit comfort and durance.

As a sustainable designer you continuously have to weigh your options and improve your knowledge about materials and production methods. There are not many products which are 100% safe and good for the environment but important is to make the right choice in the right situation. If you know for example that a product is going to be used for a very long time and will become a heirloom you can safely use beautiful timbers but if you know it will only be used for a couple of years you look at it in a different way. Here comes reduce, reuse and recycle. Design cradle to cradle so the materials stay in the loop.

I teach sustainable design at Curtin University and the best compliment I had was a student telling me he didn’t want to use any virgin material in his whole future design career as there were so many materials available which already had been used but still in perfect order to reuse. I believe in a sustainable future!

Links

Deseos Design website

02 Global website

Sustainability stories link

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Craft Australia Defunded

2011-10-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and colleagues,

On Thursday, 12 October, Craft Australia was officially notified that it has been ‘defunded’: it will receive no more triennial funding from the Australia Council for the Arts beyond the end of 2011.

While Craft Australia and the broad constituencies it represents and supports would dispute this decision, the result effectively means the organisation has no funds to operate beyond 31 December 2011. This decision comes at a point when the sector is poised to make some significant developments in relation to craft, design, innovation and the creative industries, and in which Craft Australia has played and would have continued to play a significant role.

More information about how you can help Craft Australia will also be sent to you next week and will be posted on the Craft Australia website and Blog.

Catrina Vignando
General Manager
21/10/2011

Ellie Mucke: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

My appreciation of the handmade stems from a childhood of macramé wall hangings, patchwork quilts and handmade mud bricks. My love of design was instilled later, studying Fashion Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. A passion for people and the environment in which they live is something, for me, that just is and always will be.

In 2007 I established the brand MüCKE, a womans clothing and accessories label creating everything from re-used garments. It was this love of design and a passion for a more sustainable future that inspired me to launch the label. Old clothing is collected, un-picked, draped, re-cut and restitched daily, in my East Brunswick studio. Each piece is created as part of an ‘on-going’ collection, whereby the fabrics are forever changing, but the styles vary only every six months to two years.

Image by Tobias Titz: MüCKE, Waste-tee earrings, 2010. Reclaimed cotton/ elastane T-shirt scraps and sterling silver wire.

I am a 'collector' at heart, so by the pure natural order of things, the waste I create from cutting new styles, is collated and stored ready for a new use later down the track. Evidence of this can be seen in the 'Waste-tee' collection, of earrings and necklaces made from the reclaimed scraps of t-shirts used for another of my accessories lines.

Image: MüCKE, ForwardsbackwardsTOP,(Front) 2011 Reclaimed mens shirt and ladies shirt. Shoes by Phong Chi Lai Handcraft

Image: MüCKE, ForwardsbackwardsTOP,(Back) 2011. Reclaimed mens shirt and ladies shirt. Shoes by Phong Chi Lai Handcraft

Combined with my efforts to do less harm in the manufacturing process, is my passion for interactive design application. Workshops, exhibitions and teaching are examples of this. Consolidated in the MüCKE collections I purposely fuse wit with style and invite the wearer to engage more with the individual pieces. The engagement process is a significant part of my design practice, as I believe so many of our social and environmental problems stem from limitations of mind.

Image: MüCKE, Long HalfSKIRT and Short HalfSKIRT with ButtonvestCARDI #2, 2011. Two reclaimed mens shirts and reclaimed mens cardigan. Shoes by Phong Chi Lai Handcraft

Image: MüCKE, IntersectionTOP, 2011. Two reclaimed mens shirts. Shoes by Phong Chi Lai Handcraft

My latest collection to be continued… explores this idea. Skirts sold by the half, and tops split down the middle with the capability of being worn in three ways explores the idea that clothing does not have to be consumed the way we are all used to. Select pieces are now available from Blondies, Melbourne and Strelitzia, Sydney.

Ellie Mucke website
Ellie Mucke blog
Wear it Blog
Blondies website
Steliitzia website
Ellie Mücke, Textiles longevity, interview
Sustainability stories link
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Chunk Design: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

Will Wansey

Chunk Design is a collaborative design company in Sydney that engages in a diverse range of design, engineering and manufacturing projects. We realise that as the designers and producers of things that the decisions we make at the design and specification stage can have scaled environment and social impacts at the manufacturing and consumption stage of the products life cycle.

Many of our one off and low volume projects involve the re-use of unwanted materials. The Tooth Stool (by Hugh and Andrew) for example used recycled packaging foam that was laminated and shaped into a new form.

Image: Tooth Stool, Chunk Design

Another way we try to reduce the negative impact of our activities is in the careful selection of suppliers and the specification of responsible products in new product developments. It is almost always possible to find a more responsible ways of archiving a certain result.

Image: Old growth Logging, image courtesy GreenPeace

Telapak (www.telapak.org ) for example promotes the responsible cultivation and harvest of Indonesian timers. Telapak's commercial timber products are not only environmentally sustainable, they are socially responsible also. They provide welfare and employment to many, and take market share away from the illegal old growth loggers.

Designers and makers are in a unique position to support such initiatives through their design activities have a responsibility to do so wherever possible.

The British Council and LRQA are currently sponsoring Chunk's latest urban sustainability project that recycles old Honda Postie bikes into retro electric custom motorcycles (www.e-idea.org ).

At Chunk we do everything in our power to ensure our products are useful and desirable to the user for as long as possible. Our project involves creating a new motorcycle from an old one and hopefully will create a desirable bike that people will want to own for the long term.

Image: Will Wansey Chunk

As product designers we are sometimes seen as being comfortable with our role in feeding consumerism's need for new products. It is after all what we are trained to do.

At Chunk however, this is not the case.

Chunk Design Website

Sustainability stories link
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Craft Australia Defunded

2011-10-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Bird Textiles: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Rachel Bending

Whilst living in London in 1998, I heard about an amazing garden situated on a desolate part of the coast in the south of England. The creator of the garden was the (in)famous filmmaker and gay rights activist Derek Jarman (1942-1994).

Photographs of Derek Jarman and his garden taken by Howard Sooley

Jarman was best known for his films Sebastiane, Jubilee and Caravaggio but he was also one of a handful of public figures who spoke publically about HIV and AIDS. By the time of his 1993 film ‘Blue’, in which Jarman describes his life and vision, he was losing his sight and dying of AIDS related complications.

He was in fact, a very private man, and chose to live out the remainder of his life at a tiny fishermans cottage called ‘Prospect Cottage’ in Kent. The solitude and silence attracted him to what was in all reality one of the most harsh and barren landscapes possible ....within a stones throw of Dungeness nuclear power station.

Out of this desolate expanse grew Derek Jarmans Garden.

Photographs of Derek Jarman and his garden taken by Howard Sooley

Later that year, some close friends and I made the daytrip to Dungeness to visit the garden. There was something terribly romantic about visiting the place a great man had chosen to rest. But for me, as for many, the beauty was in what Jarman had created from found materials, in a place where really nothing should grow.

Photographs of Derek Jarman and his garden taken by Howard Sooley

The garden, four years after his death, was exquisitely beautiful, even in its weathered and unkempt state.

Moments like this, my understanding of the intensely personal art practice of another, bound by the fragility of circumstance, interaction with nature and a deep awareness of environment. These moments are the inspiration for my design practice.

Image Bird Textiles, Photographer Fran Flynn

Rachel Bending is the Creative Director and Founder of Bird Textiles. Rachels work focuses on sustainability in design. Heralded by Time Magazine in 2007 as ‘one to watch’, Bird Textiles range of organic fabrics, homewares, fashion and gifts is available from retailers around Australia, and through a comprehensive e-commerce site to a global marketplace. Widely recognised for its environmental consciousness, Bird Textiles is regarded as one of Australias premier sustainable design brands.

Links

Bird Textiles website

Bird Textiles blog

Sustainability stories link

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Mark Vaarwerk: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

When I think about sustainability along with my jewellery making I wonder how the two have come together. I dont think sustainability has ever been the goal of my practice yet my work does commonly get described by this term.

Image: Mark Vaarwerk, brooch blue 57mm materials: expanded polystyrene packaging, stainless steel, sterling silver

Thinking back to the beginning of my practice, to before the beginning even, I realise my focus has always been to make most use of what is immediately available. Doing a student research project on hand-spinning of natural fibers i was partly frustrated by the unavailability of materials - to a city dweller, sourcing standard raw fibers such as cotton and wool was difficult and expensive. Once the project was submitted and I was able to source materials more intuitively and experimentally, I quickly realised that in the city there were many immediate sources of fiber, adaptable to the traditional spinning techniques I had just learned. The raw material that I adopted was the plastic bag, because it was freely available, colourful, and relevant - relevant in the sense that it is a material that I was familiar with, which I could relate to. Even more, its a source of material with a story which sometimes could be retold, or just imagined, as the bags were a byproduct of peoples real shopping trips and the colours of the bags would sometimes be recognisable as belonging to a particular brand or outlet. It also makes great string.

Image: Mark Vaarwerk, brooch bronze 57mm materials: expanded polystyrene food box, colouring pencil, stainless steel, sterling silver

I had found a material that was free, easily available and had intrinsic value because of its previous use - a win-win-win - so it was natural to continue in this thread. A range of handspun plastic bag necklaces were soon joined by plastic bottle rings and brooches - all with a focus on utilizing throwaway materials. Currently I am using expanded polystyrene to make brooches. Again it is a material which is freely available - any day (or night) I can within a few blocks from home find a few piles of used food boxes or packaging useful for my jewellery. I also collect other discarded plastics - broken household appliances, broken car light covers off the streets, used cigarette filters even, to use to coat the polystyrene and add colour. Again, these familiar everyday sources of materials adds an extra layer of interest and meaning to the finished pieces which their owners can connect with.

Image: Mark Vaarwerk, brooch red 68mm materials: expanded polystyrene food box, acrylic car brake light covers, stainless steel, sterling silver

On a personal level, to me, sustainability still takes a back seat. What comes first is the fun involved in scrounging and collecting something for free, the immediacy of the source and the chance to play mad scientist/inventor in my workshop to reshape these materials which are such a real and useful part of our day to day lives.

Links

Mark Vaarwerk website
Mark Vaarwerk on Supercyclers
Sustainability stories link
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Amber Ward: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Kietsu: Creating with joy - a commitment to wholistic creative practice

Japanese for "joy", Kietsu embraces the notion that beauty is experienced through use and use imbues memory over time. With this has evolved a sustainable art + design practice committed to a wholistic approach to sustainability and the production of finely crafted, functional works. In this case, ‘sustainability’ includes environmental, social and economic considerations. Examples include sourcing local, non-museled wool from ethically bred sheep, the use of organic detergents and minimal water for handmade felt produced at my home studio. The use of alpaca fibre provides beautiful textiles from animals who tread lightly on the earth and produce lustrous natural colour palettes. It also includes the use of GECA (Good Environmental Choice Australia) certified Echo Panel for interior screens and the use of Eco Wool, hemp, organic cotton and ethically sourced silk from commercial suppliers with environmental credentials.

Image: Midnight Rock Pool Rug, Handmade felt using non-mulesed West Australian Merino wool and Alpaca

Does commitment to sustainability present limitations to creative practice? I believe we have been offered a gift as artists, designers and craftspeople with the ability to create – and creativity is as unlimited as desire, passion and ability to find solutions. Driven to produce works that bring us closer to the beauty of nature, thereby awakening our desire to care for it, visual presentation explores organic forms and surface design, inherent soothing tactile qualities of natural fibres for finely crafted felt rugs and blankets, warm radiance of felt lighting and dynamic shadows cast through hand sculpted Echo Panel screens.

Image: Ascension, Hand-sculpted Echo Panel Private residence, Perth

Commitment to sustainable production processes requires either self-production of work, or working with contractors for larger scale projects who share a commitment to sustainable production processes. This can present challenges, which from my experience and geographic location, is symptomatic of a mining-centric economy where sustainability, craftsmanship and ethical design are not inherent priorities to industry. The technological production process may itself be sustainable, however, when the focus remains on a cost per minute profit basis, contractors may employ less than sustainable production methods to achieve quicker results. So therein lies the challenge of keeping watch over each part of the production process and maintaining the search for the right collaborators, or upholding a manual, designer-made practice regardless of project size.

This year has presented the opportunity for interesting collaborations with other designer makers and commercial partners, developing the hand made and experimenting with digitally designed work. The current project sees me working with International sustainable textiles company, Woven Image where I have been invited as an Imagination Partner to create work using their new Echo Panel ‘Mura’ product. Nurturing an inherent affinity with the hand made, evoking an essence or aura different to that which is digitally producted, the work will result in 22sqm of hand cut textiles to create an interior spacial installation, with the cutouts also being used within the work. The installation explores an underwater grotto of corals and the elusive leafy seadragon, paying homage to Metis, the mythological ocean nymph and mother of Athena, who name means wisdom, skill or craft.

Image: Conch Pendant Light Handmade felt using non-mulesed West Australian Merino wool

With a portfolio ranging from the small, soft and tactile to large, rigid and fixed, the joy lies in creating functional works for private use and public installation which will hopefully in time become heirlooms, or at the end of their lifecycle be readily upcycled/recycled into new materials for future use, or harmlessly returned to the earth.

Kietsu Studio website

Kietsu on Facebook

Sustainability stories link

Craft Australia invites you to take the Share Your Stories survey

2011-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Craft Australia invites you to take the
Share Your Stories survey

Craft Australia is again conducting the 'share your stories' survey to gather data about Australian crafts people and designers operating small businesses or creative micro industries.

Craft Australia will collate these findings to establish a picture of micro businesses. This data will be the basis of information to advocate for small businesses in the creative industries sector. Please take 5 minutes to take the Share Your Stories survey.

All participants go in the draw to win a KINK oil bottle designed by Deb Jones, hand-made by the JamFactory Glass Studio and donated by the Canberra Glassworks.

The winner will be notified by email and an announcement made on the Craft Australia website, and Craft Australia blog,

Craft Australia thanks the Canberra Glassworks for donating the KINK oil bottle.

Links
JamFactory

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre celebrates 40 years

2011-10-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

Image: Jane Burns opening speech to gathered friends and members of Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre

Over 100 friends, colleagues, members and supporters came together to celebrate the Centre's 40th birthday party.

Ms Joy Burch MLA, Minister for the Arts, opened the festivities giving a warm and heartfelt welcome. Craft ACT Craft and Design centres' Patrons Margaret Williams and Emeritus Professor David Williams AM along with Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly and valued friends of the Centre Dr Chris Bourke MLA, Mrs Vicki Dunne MLA and Mr Brendan Smyth MLA joined us to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Guest speakers Jane Burns and Meredith Hinchliffe regaled guests with tales of the organisation's origins and the history of the craft and design movement in Canberra and Australia. Read full story

Image: L to R Jenny Deves, Catrina Vignando (past CEOs), Louise Doyle and Gillian McCracken
Images supplied by Craft ACT Craft and Design Centre.

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre website

Wilding Wallpaper: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

William Wilding

The Immaculate Perception Project

The Immaculate Perception Project is an interdisciplinary exercise in cross-cultural collaboration. It demonstrates how Government, Education and Industry can work together to create prosperity through the development of trust and exercise of care - the essence of sustainability.

The nine designs comprising The Immaculate Perception Project reflect relations that emerged between the designers and the producers during 2010 and 2011. Guided by Craft Victoria, thoughts and feelings were crafted into manufactured works of commercial design which symbolise shared values.

Image: The designs at the gallery of Craft Victoria

Engaging with local and international suppliers to identify the most suitable sustainable materials, and channeling creativity through a blend of traditional and contemporary production processes, the project applies and adapts principles of graphic design, textile design, interior design, fashion design and print to address problems whose solutions can translate into new product streams.

The will to regenerate therefore pushes through every aspect of the project. Drawing on the institutions of family, community and ancestry, the artists - Caitlin Ziegler, Penelope Gale and Maryann Talia Pau - produced life-affirming designs in response to the drive to engage with essential human needs.

Image: The artists at the international studios of the ABC (Left to Right: Maryann, Penny, Caitlin)

Esther Wilding then incorporated these ideas into the communication of the project in concert with Design Victoria and Swinburne University; while Joe Pascoe ensured themes remained unified and the voice of the group could be heard.

The Immaculate Perception Project applies universal principles to particular situations. It designs and produces products and services that express a willingness to communicate with people and engage with the world.

Image: The designs in production at the factory
All images courtesy William Wilding at Wilding Wallpaper

Links
Wilding Wallpaper website
The Immaculate Perception Project website

Sustainability stories link

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Craft Victoria: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Immaculate Perception Project, surviving as a maker

Over the past year William Wilding (Wilding Wallpapers) and Joe Pascoe (Craft Victoria) have been working together to deliver this first iteration of the Immaculate Perception project. Founded by William Wilding as a design project, its central aim is matching design talent with material outcomes, in this instance wallpaper.

Image: Penelope Gale, Pods

Say wallpaper and most people will go blank, but this project has the opposite effect. Working with selected Craft Victoria members, William developed production ready designs for the Australian market. These designs are contemporary and mature. They work themes derived from our natural and personal environments, such as mudcrabs and magical castles. In a sense they are unique yet universal, which is a special challenge of the wallpaper market. There are nine designs, which can come in different colour ranges.

Image: Caitlin Ziegler, East of the Sun

For Craft Victoria the project is positioned within its ‘New Craft Made in Victoria’ program, which has been active for almost three years. New Craft links makers with commissions and creates craft works for sale in the wholesale marketplace. Where this new project differs is that it represents an industry connection that has the capacity to enter a major market space. As a model it is an exciting extension of Grace Cochrane’s ‘Smartworks’ concept, which recognised the inherent economic and cultural value chains that underpin much contemporary (and historical) craft. Imagine the possibilities; from wallpaper one could go onto other areas (rugs have already been done, famously by Ernabella) and with some creative yet hard-nosed thinking, the opportunities will undoubtedly grow.

Image: Maryann Talia Pau, Mudcrabs

Most importantly, for the makers involved it is a rare opportunity to commercialise their work in an Australian context and to have a sustainable craft practice. It also gets away from the implied assumption that for craft to become viable it needs to somehow morph into design. Here the real craft skills are maintained and enhanced as the basic medium (paper) remains constant. Joe Pascoe CEO and Artist Director Craft Victoria

The Immaculate Perception Project website

Wilding Wallpaper website
Sustainability stories link

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Danyka Van Buuren: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Danyka Van Buuren

If we project the apocalyptic future we’ve heard so much about in recent years, its easy to feel terrifyingly overwhelmed. Our model of capitalism, overproduction and over-consumption is simply not sustainable. When one imagines a world where resources are scant, crippled by the effects of environmental collapse, jewellery is perhaps not the first object one might think of as existing within the bounds of necessity or value. Ostentation and seemingly functionless ornamentation would appear exactly that – useless.

Sometimes I feel the need to justify my purpose as a crafts person. In particular, being a jeweller.

Admittedly, I never intended to create works that fit under the slippery title of “sustainable”. It isn’t that I don’t believe in the value of sustainably-minded craft practice – in fact I believe craft must evolve to this model in order to have a viable future. I am a little wary about its use as this decade’s buzz-word, which I think devalues what sustainable craft and design stands for.

I must confess, my Picnic Gems series began from a much more self-centered place. In 2007 was in a favourite high-brow op-shop of mine, rummaging amongst several boxes in the ‘to be sorted pile/return to charity’ when I happened across a box of old, dirty, melamine picnicware. It reminded me of caravan parks, school camps and my grandparents kitchen.

I picked up a trio of cups – sunshine yellow, lime green and bright orange. They were coloured on the outside, with a warm white lining, and small, circular, finger-sized handles. Marked on the base with “Ornamin Ware – British Plastics, Melbourne”. They weren’t in mint condition, to say the least – they were battle-scarred: coffee stains, scourer scratches, tiny chips, even scorch marks. They had lived. I took them to the counter, where the owner smiled, somewhat sympathetically, with me – “I remember these. 1960’s, I believe. Two dollars each.”

I took my cups back to the ANU School of Art workshop, where I hacked away at them with a jeweller’s saw and files – and out of a hell of a lot of dust emerged my first Teacup Ring – the handle lopped off the cup, carved through its yellow and white layering into an object unto itself.

The process of making them remains just as rudimentary. The addition of a silver band liner allows for smaller sizes, hallmarking, and helps elevate the perception of the object from ‘plastic’ to ‘precious’.

Image: Tea Cup Stack, Danyka Van Buuren

After my initial discovery, I hurriedly returned to the op-shop to purchase more cups – excitedly relaying my story to the shopkeeper. She seemed disappointed, hurt even. “Well, if you’re cutting them up, I almost don’t want to sell them to you... Five dollars each.” I pondered this: it wasn’t my intention to denigrate the memory of the objects, their history, design, moment. I thought of it more of an appropriation, a celebration.

Once I had bled the shop dry of the melamine teacups, I turned to other sources: eBay, Vinnies’, garage sales, estate sales, the tip. More often than not, I ended up with a whole set of melamine crockery, which I had to add to my ever-expanding hoarde of handle-less, functionless cup remnants and lonely saucers. I had begun to create a more useless mess than I started with, which to me seemed a little senseless. Thus spawned the Picnic Gems works. I began cutting up my remnant crockery. I layered cut and broken pieces of plastic crockery between coloured resins, and cut back into the resulting blocks, exposing the striated layers of colour and revealing the shapes and forms of the source material. The ‘rocks’ of material are hewn into freeform faceted, gem-like shapes, which are turned into wearable pieces. Picnic gems are visually reminiscent of banded agate or sedimentary stone, and perhaps remind us that the material has a history – a kind of ‘social geology’.

Image: Teacup Rings, Danyka Van Buuren

To me, sustainability isn’t necessarily about using a material that is branded “eco-friendly”, it isn’t simply about cleverly reinventing everyday objects. It represents a necessity for a change in the way we think about consumption, and broadly, a shift in attitudes towards the lifecycle of objects. Theoretically, every plastic man can make is recyclable in one way or another. It’s just that for the large part, we don’t.

On some level, I wanted to capture that sensation I first experienced when I found those first cups. The idea of objects with antecedent history – the translation and evolution of those ‘object stories’, imbues them with a new sense of value. It makes them precious. Jewellery is an especially useful format for this – it already has its own language of value. We can easily identify a gemstone as a precious object. We can imbue a ring with meaning.

Image: Plate Shards, Danyka Van Buuren

Recently, I have begun to attempt to make this ongoing series of works a completely closed-loop process: my aim is to create no new waste in the fabrication process. I have begun collecting the dust of the ground plastics created during the process (which is a lot, believe me) to use as an ingredient in the resin which I layer between the plastics. Incidentally, this has made the material harder and more durable, much to my delight! In a way, the work dictates its own direction: a kind of iterative loop of ideas and meaning.

It is my hope that these works can carry this message beyond my bench and into the minds of it’s wearers.

Image: Picnic Gem Brooches, Danyka Van Buuren
All images copy right Danyka Van Buuren

Links
Danyka's Blog
Danyka work can be purchased at Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre Shop
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5 Simple Steps to Engaging with Sustainability in Creative Practice

2011-10-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

By Leyla Acaroglu

Director of Eco Innovators

Reduce your waste: it’s an oldie but a goody and it’s a great place to start. Whilst recycling is important so too is thinking through design layouts, cutting techniques, manufacturing options and material choices so that the minimum amount of waste is produced in your practice.
Don’t just recycle paper: everyone should have paper recycling down pat – but there are many other materials that can be reclaimed and reused such as e-waste, many plastics, metals and of course organic materials. Even if you don’t produce a lot of waste material there is scope to recycle, it may require teaming up with some other local crafters to arrange collections of drop offs (for example CDs are fully recyclable but you will need to drop them off at a plastics recycling facility).
Do more with less: consider how you can achieve your product outcome with the least amount of material and energy input. This can be as simple as the size of your business cards or flyers, the types and quantities of material used and the processes required to create your works. Reducing the amount of ‘things’ required to create your works will reduce the overall footprint of the finished product.
Make the switch: to 100% green power. Whilst we can’t all afford to pop a solar array on our roofs, it’s easy to purchase 100% solar or wind power from an energy provider. There is a slight cost increase, but with some simple energy saving techniques (such as switching everything off at the wall) you won’t notice the difference.
Give ‘em a service: No matter what you make, there is always a scope for a service component, can you offer a free or discounted repairs if needed? What about a loan of hire service from your works? Whatever it is, a service component makes good business sense as it provides an ongoing relationship with your customer.

Links

Eco Innovators website
Sustainability stories link
Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Craft Australia's Top Hot Opportunities (THO) October

2011-10-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

A diverse range of current opportunities are listed including residencies, exhibitions, grants, professional development and commissions for the craft and design sector in the Craft Australia Opportunities calendar.

Image Number 1029039 Vicki Torr Untitled, 1988. Craft Australia National Historical collection Flickr

Sample to this months latest opportunities.

Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival cultural program, call for expressions of interest
Breathing Colours gallery, call for applications
Megalo Print Studio artist in residence, call for applications
Vicki Torr Memorial Glass Prize, call for entries
Northern Territory Craft Artist in Residence, call for applications

Full THO listings

Here by hand - 70 years at Sturt 1941-2011

2011-10-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Weaving Erika Semler and Ceramics by Ian Jones

Did you attend the Here by Hand Here by Hand - 70 years at Sturt exhibition opening and/or 70 year luncheon? Please leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences at the events or your current or past experiences with Sturt workshop and gallery.

Here by hand - 70 years at Sturt 1941-2011 exhibition
Sturt website
Sturt Permanent Collection website
Craft Australia National Historical Collection website

Sturt : Australian contemporary craft and design celebrates 70 years

2011-10-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Image: L to R Jane Burns, Hannah Semler, Jutta Federsen and Elisabeth Nagel

Image: L to R National Living Treasure Les Blakebrough, Erika Semler and Melanie Olde

Image: Left Kim Quinn, Right Grace Cochrane

Sturt : Australian contemporary craft and design at Mittagong NSW celebrated it's 70 birthday with the opening of Here by Hand - 70 years at Sturt exhibition.

Did you attend the Here by Hand Here by Hand - 70 years at Sturt exhibition opening and/or 70 year luncheon? Please leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences at the events or your experiences with Sturt workshop and gallery.

Here by hand - 70 years at Sturt 1941-2011 exhibition
Sturt website
Sturt Permanent Collection website
National Living Treasures Website
Craft Australia National Historical Collection website

Marc Harrison part 2: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-10-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Re-appropriation of Packaging Material

There are 2 forms of re appropriation in my practice; the first form is the recycling of waste or low valued by-product, a material that has had a first life and has either been discarded or stored waiting for a second life. This is best seen in Husque and the use of the Macadamia nut shell as a key ingredient in a composite material used to manufacture design.

The second form of re-appropriation is the assembly of particularly low valued mass produced products into higher valued products in a way that is energy conservative. The objective of this form of re-appropriation is to create with minimal defacing of the objects used, in other words, low energy input with zero to low waste.

This series of light features is focused on the re-appropriation of packaging materials. Traditionally packaging materials are designed to be cheap and effective as they are generally understood to have short lives as second cousins to the products that they envelop. So they are generally inexpensive and very assessable, and also very recyclable.

Image: Sushi Pendant light

The sushi pendant lights, are a composition of takeaway sushi containers and wax lunch wrap and fishing line. The containers are a double layer sandwiching crushed lunch wrap diffusers and chain linked into octagonal layers. The layers are then threaded together and suspend over a naked energy efficient light bulb. The containers create structure while the paper creates diffusion.

Image: Sushi Pendant light (detail)

The Power Shake is a table lamp consisting of a torch, milkshake container and drinking straws. All parts have been sourced from a supermarket, in fact at the end of the installation, both the torch and the containers where returned to the supermarket.

Image: The Power Shake

Pop light is a roll of bubble wrap with an energy efficient lamp. The core of the roll is pushed out to create both the stem and the cavity for the light source. The bubble wrap is left completely intact.

Image: Pop Light

The sausage installation is a roll of small goods elastic stocking, energy efficient light spheres, butchers hooks and bridal loops. The stocking holds the spheres like a boa constrictor and the hooks suspend the stocking from the ceiling while the bridal rings help create the loops that hang.

Image: Sausage Light
All images courtesy Marc Harrison

This form of creativity, childish in many ways, is a generator of ideas. I find that the moment a viewer sees it and then registers how it is made is critical in defining its success. It’s this ability to surprise the mind that provides nourishment, and creating nourishment with minimal impact is the spirit of sustainability.

Links

Husque website
Sustainability stories link
Marc Harrison is one of the top ten finalist in the 2011 Bombay Sapphire Awards website
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Marc Harrison: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-09-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Re-appropriation of the Macadamia Nut Shell

Husque is a composite material that uses ground up Macadamia shell left over from the Macadamia nut industry processors. The Macadamia shell is a by-product once the kernel has been removed for food or oil. I combine the shell with polymer that then allows me to mold forms. These forms are set with heat and then can be machined, polished and hand finished in various ways. I introduce colour into the shapes by lining the moulds before the composite material is injected.

If Husque can be compared to another material, an accurate one would be Bakelite. Particularly, electrical insulation Bakelite used commonly in the design of appliances from the 20s to 40s. That type of Bakelite was a composite of wood-flour and phenolic resin.

My understanding of sustainability is that it is ‘the clean and prolonged use of our existing resources and the pursuit of new resources that are safe and efficient’. Husque has developed a value adding process to a low valued by-product but the value of Husque is in the concept of innovation more than the product itself. Its arguable whether the production of more ‘things’ is indeed what the planet needs but it is clear that the processes to develop well designed product by hand or intuitive methods is grounding and can be an inspiration when life and the artifacts we surround ourselves with become overly complicated.

Husque is unique as it is a product more created from art than science. The idea of using Macadamia shell in this way came from my interest in the significance of cultural icons as signposting in an increasingly homogenizing international design scene, however, the idea of using this by-product in a new application had just as much interest from an eco hungry international movement.

Being conservative and innovative with materials is natural to me and goes back to having immigrant farmers as parents and being raised with in an alternative lifestyle family where as kids we made do with what we had. In my own practice I have translated this as a unique aspect of Australian, and New Zealand design where a philosophy of ‘getting things done’ is inherent in many local innovative design practices. Low-tech methods and lateral thinking are often platforms for innovation.

One of the key features in the manufacturing of Husque is its molded form, very little waste is generated as the material is measured precisely to fill the volume of the shape required. Besides from the design of vessels, there is a hopeful future for Husque to be used in jewelry, architectural fittings and as with the Husque jug, handles.

The Macadamia nut is native to Australia, and remained exclusively landlocked here on the East coast until 1880, Australia still produces 56% of the worlds Macadamia nuts.

Husque website
Sustainability stories link
Marc Harrison is one of the top ten finalist in the 2011 Bombay Sapphire Awards website
Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Craft Australia invites you to take the Share Your Stories survey

2011-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Craft Australia invites you to take the Share Your Stories survey

The winner will be notified by email and an announcement made on the Craft Australia website, and Craft Australia blog,

Craft Australia thanks the Canberra Glassworks for donating the KINK oil bottle.

Links
JamFactory

DesignbyThem: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-09-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Nicholas Karlovasitis and Sarah Gibson met whilst studying at university and formed DesignByThem in late 2006. Since establishing DesignByThem they have gone on to work with a diverse range of clients and have produced numerous designs characterised by their innovative use of materials, sustainable practices and ability to combine a sense of fun with clear function.

WebLight is the result of an exploration into the potential possibilities of reusing plastic bags. Made from recycled content, each WebLight is individually hand made and features an intricate pattern of texture and holes that are the direct result of its unique forming process.

Designers’ Notes
“WebLight is the result of an exploration into the potential possibilities of reusing plastic bags. We spent over a year developing the light; perfecting the process to form the intricate and organic structure allowing it to be lightweight yet rigid, delicate and organic in appearance and softly diffusing. Each WebLight is hand made by us and completely individual with no WebLight being the same.“

WebLight is recyclable and made from 100% recycled plastic bags and factory waste. Each WebLight contains no virgin material and has a minimum of 70% post consumer waste. Custom WebLights can be made containing 100% post consumer recycled content as well. The forming process uses 100% renewable energy sources and DesignByThem also offers a product stewardship program where it takes back products to be either repaired, reused or recycled. Please visit the DesignByThem website for more information.

Design by Them website

Sustainability stories link

Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Craft Australia is interested to know how you are tackling sustainability in your practice. If you would like to contribute ideas or have an experience you would like to share on the Craft Australia blog. Contact the blog editor

Liz Stops: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-09-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Works in slipcast porcelain have been a consistent thread through my practice for some years. The forms I devise are usually landscape-based, expressing interpretations of my rural locale. I assemble groups of objects in configurations of 2 to 150 that portray particular and imagined locations. I value the exacting and time consuming processes involved when developing a form, making a mould and then slipcasting, as an opportunity for contemplation and immersion in the objectives underpinning a defined project. I find that reflection is fostered by repetitive process and physical engagement with materials and is an important component towards furthering and evolving ideas.

I also work in recycled and found media, an enterprise that attempts to more closely link the form and content of my work with my environmental concerns. I recently completed a PhD entitled Carbon Credits in which I explored these possibilities in depth, an undertaking that was motivated by the conviction that it would be possible to develop a professionally viable practice that incorporated a strong procedural ethic of sustainability. Carbon Credits was integral to my environmentally committed lifestyle and was also contextualised within a society increasingly aware of its dependence on the health of ecological systems with which we interact. My project also acknowledged the environmental impacts of colonisation.

Image: Liz Stops, Investigations into Colonisation, 2010 Porcelain, recycled fenceposts, charcoal, binder 47cm high x 110 x 30

The outcomes of my investigations were objects and photographs through which I observed the implications of my colonial complicity in misuse of resources, but also imagined new possibilities of a more inclusive interaction with the landscape. Works completed during the project were in porcelain; a variety of recycled materials such as pulped cotton, flywire, bird wire, barbed wire, copper sheet, charcoal, bone, ash and sap, most of which were collected as a result of my land-management practices; as well as photographic documentation of temporary works and ephemeral events. In particular, charcoal that had been collected from my winter fires over two winters became the sustainable substance through which I aligned the conceptual, the material and lifestyle considerations, developing works that responded to my local colonised landscape, while establishing resource-conservative studio procedures. The production, preparation and manipulation of charcoal became a regenerative gesture through which I could envisage a hopeful environmental future.

Image: Liz Stops Wombee Landscape III: Dawn, Charcoal, ash, sap, bone, binder 50cm high x 75 x 5

Carbon Credits also impacted on my porcelain practice and led to the development of strategies to minimise its carbon footprint. These included taking measures to eliminate studio waste by devising works that utilised scrap, as well as installing a grid-connect solar system to produce electricity for firing. However, recently, mining of one of the components of my porcelain slip has ceased in Australia and it is now imported, thus increasing the footprint of my work. This occurrence highlights the fact that resolutions are not static and my practice requires continual review and adaptation.

Carbon Credits thesis

Planet website

Australian Ceramics website

Brenda May Gallery website
Sustainability stories link
Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe
Craft Australia is interested to know how you are tackling sustainability in your practice. If you would like to contribute ideas or have an experience you would like to share on the Craft Australia blog. Contact the blog editor

Alexander Lotersztain: Musings on a sustainable practice

2011-09-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

DERLOT re-project

Re-project is designer Alexander Lotersztain’s research study on design’s potential to address environmental and social issues. Taking design as a tool for communication and a mediator of human behavior in both passive and active ways.

Re-project explores new solutions to old problems, proposing sensitive and sometimes provocative ideas that will stimulate change. Re-project latest venture merges community support and environment

re-stitch

re-stitch - New collection soft-denim seating " derlot + Saint Vincent de Paul Society"

Old denim gets a re-stitch!

By purchasing otherwise discarded denim from charitable organization Saint Vincent de Paul Society of Australia, the project provides financial support to the Society but most importantly creates public awareness and promotes sustainability. As the designer and project founder Alexander Lotersztain calls it: “chic-derelict!, bring a sense of cool and fashion to a good cause.” The project suggest that design can and should play an important role in society, and can tackle many of the important issues we face in today’s world.

Images: Alexander Lotersztain, re-stitch, Photographer Florian Groehn

Alexander Lotersztain website

re-stitch website
Sustainability stories link
Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Craft Australia: Craft Australia Forum 2011

2011-09-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Sustainability what does it mean?

To explore this field Craft Australia invites you to join in our focus on sustainability. Craft Australia Invites case studies highlighting sustainable craft and design practice. An online forum addressing the issue is planned for September and October where online discussions about models of sustainable practice will take place.

Feedback from the sector will identify the main areas of concern for makers. Craft Australia will make the findings from the focus on sustainability available to government and relevant stakeholders to future proof the capacity of craft and design creative micro enterprises.

Image: Pennie Jagiello, Pieces of Fate Neckpiece Recycled electrical wire plastic bags & aluminum de-consrtucted costume jewelley and fishing nets

What are your thoughts on sustainability?

Craft Australia is interested to know how you are tackling sustainability in your practice.

If you would like to contribute ideas or have an experience you would like to share on the Craft Australia blog, please leave a comment or contact Craft Australia to submit your case study.
Published case studies

Vicki Halper, Australian craft impressions

2011-09-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

Vicki Halper, Australian craft impressions, review article

‘It’s easy for Americans to identify with Australia,’ I said to Kevin Murray, a writer about Australian craft , at dinner one night. ‘The colonial past, language, youth of the country, pioneer spirit.’ I was thinking of places I briefly saw in the Great Dividing Range that reminded me of Montana towns. Kevin wasn’t nodding in agreement. After a month in Australia, I still know only a bit, and much of that likely incorrect. Bear with me then as I give my impressions of the Australian craft scene that I encountered.

I came as a visiting curator, guest of Craft Australia, in April 2011. During that time I stayed in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, and Melbourne; spoke directly with scores of people including artists, historians, curators, administrators, collectors, and students; and saw work in galleries, museums, and studios. Because of the compressed timeframe and intense schedule, I left with the lovely but surely misguided sense that craft is the center of all Australian life. (Thank you!) Read More

Image Vicki Halper and Nina Cuvea at Metalab Gallery Sydney

Save our Stories: the Craft Australia digitisation project

2011-09-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Image number 1009019: Tom Moore, Just Another Day (detail), 1986

Craft Australia is saving the story of the Australian Studio Craft movement. Over 25,000 colour slides that form part of its national historical collection represent a unique visual archive as the Craft Australia Image Bank.
Unfortunately, the slides are slowly deteriorating in the historic slide sleeves of the past. Craft Australia is preserving these slides by digitising them and making them accessible online. Images of work by Australian artists dating back to the late 1960s will now be viewable on the internet.
We need your help to make these stories talk. Preserving and digitising this rare material is very costly. To date we have had the support of the National Library of Australia. With $10,000 we have saved 4,000 slides. Craft Australia needs a further $35,000 to save the slides in the collection.

Be a part of the story

Make a donation to Craft Australia and help to us to save our stories.

With as little as $5 dollars you can help to rehouse, preserve and digitise a story.
With $50 we can do that to an entire slide sheet of stories.
With $500 we can do ten slide sheets.

Be part of Australia’s history, save the past for a vibrant future.
Please donate to save our stories.

About Craft Australia image Bank website

Images saved so far Flickr

Melissa Cameron: Musing on a sustainable practice

2011-09-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Recycled objects in my practice - 2011

In my practice I choose to work with various materials, including recycled objects. Prefabricated metal containers appeal especially to me, not because of quirks arising from their pre-used qualities (in fact I sometimes sandblast them to erase obvious traces of their past), but because of their form, or their embossing, or their inscribed patterns. Using already worked material is akin to a collaboration.

I began working with these objects for three reasons; firstly they suited the scale and the method of fabrication I was working with; secondly, when I began experimenting with found objects, I tried deconstructing many objects, such as porcelain plates, nylon and bamboo trays and cork trivets, but it was working with whole containers that crystallised the concept. Thirdly, I wanted to exploit the fact that when sawing out interesting and intricate patterns from a sheet, there is always an equally interesting and intricate hole left behind. The rigidity and simplicity of a found object framed, and provided a foil for, the complex patterns of the void. The contrasting complexity of the forms sets up an interesting dialogue between the finished works.

Image: Plated Triptych I + II, 2011. Recycled chromed gilding metal powder case, 925 silver, stainless steel, photo courtesy Melissa Cameron

A methodical planning process of drafting, at scale, all of my works, ensures that they make best use of the material, so there little leftover, barring swarf. When I work with an object or container I generally design two works in tandem - a piece to be taken from the object, and another from what remains of object itself. If not making more than a single piece, the process then becomes more challenging to design, in that all of the motifs in a pattern have to be reconciled to form a seamless composition.

Image: Acanthus Oval, 2010. Recycled gold-plated gilding metal powder case (half), 925 silver, stainless steel, photo courtesy Melissa Cameron

All of my works are propelled into three dimensions by the use of fine threads, of steel cable or silk, to give the pieces volume. This cold-joining system exploits tensile forces, to animate the works, and also make them easily disassembled.

Image: Blue Tin Set, 2011. Recycled painted mild steel tin, 925 silver, stainless steel, photo courtesy Melissa Cameron

In these works, a more useful or symbolic part of the recycled object does not exist, and thus in the obverse, there is not a waste part. In this area of my practice I refute the concept that waste is a necessary end product. Waste as a concept is harmful to inhabiting a planet of finite resources, and so through this work I remind myself that I am responsible for what I use, and equally, what I choose not to.

Melissa Cameron website

Melissa Cameron blog
Sustainability stories link
Be In The Know for Sustainability Forum Updates Subscribe

Craft Australia's Top Hot Opportunities (THO)

2011-09-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Image: Kim-Anh Nguyen. Spinifex, detail, Vitrify Ceramic Award

Sample to this months latest opportunities.

Craft Hatch, Craft Victoria's quarterly market for emerging makers
Vitrify Alcorso Ceramic Award, annual prize for ceramic art
La Macina di San Cresci, Italian residency
craft+design enquiry Journal Issue 5, Call for papers
Janet Holmes à Court Artists' NAVA members grants
ArtStart, financial assistance to recent creative arts graduates

Full THO listings

Craft Australia

Winding Up February Update #1

Happy Christmas from Craft Australia

Direct Digital Print: Musing on a sustainable practice

Sustainability blogs

Have you signed the defunding petition

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support.

Sam Parsons: Musing on a sustainable practice

Nick Randall: Musing on a sustainable practice

What people are saying

New Articles in the Craft Australia Library

Laura McCusker: Musing on a sustainable practice

Sign the Petition

Kent Gration: Musing on sustainability

Wambamboo: Musing on a sustainable practice

craft research: Craft Australia Need Us!!

Yellow Diva: Musing on a sustainable practice

Sebastian Clarke: Musing on a sustainable practice

Save Craft Australia

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Craft Australia is challenging this decision and is also seeking your support.

MEDIA RELEASE

Craft Australia Defunded by the Australia Council

Wilma van Boxtel: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia Defunded

Ellie Mucke: Musing on a sustainable practice

Chunk Design: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia Defunded

Bird Textiles: Musing on a sustainable practice

Mark Vaarwerk: Musing on a sustainable practice

Amber Ward: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia invites you to take the Share Your Stories survey

The winner will be notified by email and an announcement made on the Craft Australia website, and Craft Australia blog,

Craft Australia thanks the Canberra Glassworks for donating the KINK oil bottle.

LinksJamFactory

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre celebrates 40 years

Wilding Wallpaper: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Victoria: Musing on a sustainable practice

Danyka Van Buuren: Musing on a sustainable practice

5 Simple Steps to Engaging with Sustainability in Creative Practice

Craft Australia's Top Hot Opportunities (THO) October

Here by hand - 70 years at Sturt 1941-2011

Sturt : Australian contemporary craft and design celebrates 70 years

Marc Harrison part 2: Musing on a sustainable practice

Marc Harrison: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia invites you to take the Share Your Stories survey

The winner will be notified by email and an announcement made on the Craft Australia website, and Craft Australia blog,

Craft Australia thanks the Canberra Glassworks for donating the KINK oil bottle.

LinksJamFactory

DesignbyThem: Musing on a sustainable practice

Liz Stops: Musing on a sustainable practice

Alexander Lotersztain: Musings on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia: Craft Australia Forum 2011

Vicki Halper, Australian craft impressions

Save our Stories: the Craft Australia digitisation project

Be a part of the story

Make a donation to Craft Australia and help to us to save our stories.

Melissa Cameron: Musing on a sustainable practice

Craft Australia's Top Hot Opportunities (THO)

Links
JamFactory

Links
JamFactory