This is the team that were part of the collective SEED Event in the Leicester Gallery at DMU. The event ran over the weekend of the 26th/27th of February and was dedicated to exploring creative applications of discarded waste from the fashion industry. It was an event to not just raise awareness, but examine practical skills and methods that could be used to develop future workshops for members of the community.
When we arrived we were met with 8-10 large bags of off-cut fabrics from a local warehouse, all of these would have ended in landfill or in expensive recycling processes (which are sometimes just as bad for the planet as landfill), we also had several large bags of collected donated and unusable clothing we gathered ourselves from the community and local charity shops.
We set out to explore various ideas but these were not collectively, each individual had their own approach and we allowed everyone to act on these ideas. Some were concerned with linking it to artistic practice such as painting, others wanted to make visual representations or link it to their own artistic practice. Others wanted to upcycle the clothes into improved garments, practical and experimental, or create more conceptual representations of the scale and effect of the waste.
For me this involved making an installation that displayed two things, the beauty of some of these discarded and unwanted clothes, as well as the scale and complex nature of this issue. There were many other thoughts and notions that governed me such as I wanted to make the display feel nostalgic and familiar but also uncanny and eerie. This was achieved by reflecting a wash line and classic notions of families hanging washing together, but also by sewing all of the clothes together and tying/pegging them down in unorthodox ways.
On the second day we set out to resolve outcomes which involved people finishing their individual pieces and refining the display of the installation generally, as well as documenting the outcomes. This was an enjoyable process and it was great to see the variety we had been able to achieve in a short and focused time period.
In the end the main installation featured the hung display of conjoined waste clothing, this domestic feeling was added to by the presence of duvet covers and cushions, some homemade, that were displayed as though in some sort of blanket fort or den. There were also several items of clothing and bags that were made by other students which were displayed on the wall and worn by other members of the team.
My reflection/assessment is that the project was overall a big success for its first event, we had a decent amount of interest from passersby so expanding this project is definitely a goal of mine. I think we succeeded well at exploring varied ideas and seeing what worked and what was less effective, we also managed to agree on this mostly and it was good to see the group connecting and working collectively.
In the future I would like to develop this into a recurring project that can be done anywhere, one that allows people to explore creativity with discarded waste but also learn practical skills of sewing and editing/repairing clothes. I would also like to transform this into an accessible resource to allow others to explore this idea beyond just myself and the team.
I would also like to see DMU embrace the ideas and notions raised by our project and look into how they can bring sustainability into the university community. For example a university exchange where leaving students can gift or sell items to arriving student to discourage everyone from buying brand new everything for no reason.
An immense thank you to Mary, Sam, Chloe, Isobelle, Nathan, Helen, Nico and Issy for modelling. Also to DMU and the SEED Grant committee for allowing us to realise this project.