From Waste to Wonder: The Art of Sustainable Transformation

25 May-15 Sep 2024

Overview

Explore the convergence of art and sustainability at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery’s latest exhibition. In collaboration with Park Royal Design District, based close to Pitzhanger, this showcase features artworks crafted from waste clay excavated from the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common and recycled coffee cups, symbolising a commitment to circularity. Discover pieces by local artists, including painted clay works and 3D-printed furniture, each telling a unique story of innovation and environmental stewardship in the heart of London—a testament to creativity’s role in shaping a sustainable future.

This exhibition brings together different creative practices based at the Park Royal Design District who are each, in one way or another, exploring the use of waste products to create new forms. The Design District borders the site of one of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects—the construction of the new HS2 high-speed railway super-hub at Old Oak Common near North Acton. Half of the exhibition will showcase artists and makers reusing clay from the HS2 construction site to create new sculptures and other items, such as crockery. Each object tells a different story and is part of a deeper history of the mud and clay upon which London is built. Artists making work with reused clay from the HS2 construction site include: Absolute Beginners, Grace McCarthy, Victor Pedrosa and David Samuel, together with contextual photography of Declan Driver. 

Alongside the exhibition of reused clay will be a room displaying the work of Park Royal-based Blast Studio, who transform used coffee cups into sculptures and usable objects such as tables and lamps. Incorporating advanced robotic machinery alongside reprocessed coffee cups into their processes, the active agent behind the transformation is mycelium—the humble fungus. Blast Studios was formed in 2018 by Paola Garnousset, Martin Detoeuf, and Pierre de Pingon to explore how nature and technology can be put into dialogue to transform cities’ discarded material into new forms. Since developing their processes a few years ago, the Studio have garnered significant international interest and have been exhibited across the UK, France, the Netherlands and South Korea, including at the V&A, the Barbican and Compton Verney. They won the Prix d’Encouragement in Architecture from the French Académie des Beaux-Arts in 2020 and the New Talent Award at the Surface Design Show 2022. They were the finalists for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2022.

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