Monsters: Second life?

Monsters: Second Life? is series of images and artefacts within an early stage experimental circular economy research project, exploring the reuse/recycle potential of abandoned self-woven works containing copper and other mixed fibres.

This new 'Monsters' series of works are provoked by, and explores William McDonough & Michael Braungarts' identification of "Frankenstein products" or "monstrous hybrids" - mixtures of materials both technical and biological, neither of which can be salvaged after their current lives"(1), and an investigation around the existing processes of the incineration of textiles to retrieve their metal content. This is evidenced in the medical waste industry, sari burning, and historically through the burning of ecclesiastical textiles.

The Monsters series is a move forward from own previous experimental industrially jacquard woven research work 1994 - 2016 which explored 'on-loom' finishing approaches, which investigated and challenged the cost and environmental impact of post weaving finishing processes, such as pleating and embroidery.

By integrating, through design, mixed yarn and structure methods, these 'on loom finishing' textiles required none or minimal finishing, setting the 3D or surface effects with heat or humidity only. These works unfortunately due to their mixed fibre content have become todays 'monstrous hybrids'.

The Monster series uses practice-based research methods of experimenting and documenting the initial 'Monster' trials, including how these works changed in haptics/drape and visually at different temperatures in a ceramic kiln, through to the resultant melting of the copper fibres at higher temperatures and also the leaving of a pattern or memory of the textile on the ceramic (kiln shelf) surface.

• https://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/whats-on-at-c...