SUSTAINABILITY BY DESIGN Creative Collaborations and Sustainable Practice KERRI AINSWORTH A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design (Honours) 2011 School of Design Studies College of Fine Arts University of New South Wales i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no material previously published or written by any other person, nor material which a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. Signed Kerri Ainsworth i ABSTRACT This research examines some of the ways contemporary creators of public art and event design are expressing their concerns for the environment, through their work. Artists and designers working in this field come from a variety of creative disciplines and can include set designers, architects, lighting designers and sculptors. They often work collaboratively, across a number of disciplines, blending art, design and activism, believing their creations help enrich the life and culture of a community and raise awareness about social issues. These groups not only gather and share information; they are pooling resources and integrating a range of technologies and processes, not normally associated with a specific artistic pursuit. Artists and designers whose work and creative practice is consciously mindful of its environmental impact will be analysed. The importance of their role as educators, using their creations to build awareness and promote change in community attitudes, will also be discussed. And how the boundaries between art and design are becoming increasingly blurred with the emergence of an exciting and innovative new culture of cross-disciplinary creation. This study initially surveys published material; including an historical and theoretical analysis of the subject and proceeds through a series of case studies, studio investigations and interviews with contemporary practitioners. The research will place an emphasis on the work of contemporary artists and designers who are currently incorporating sustainable practice into their work. This includes investigating new low energy lighting technologies and power systems, renewable resources and how best to utilize these in the design and creation of objects and spaces. Conclusions drawn from the study reveal that while many artists and designers are eager to adopt sustainable practice wherever possible, there are several obstacles to be overcome. While sustainable technologies have been widely integrated into their work, sustainable materials are often too expensive or not readily available. But most importantly, the creative industries have a huge influence on the public, and as such, are a perfect vehicle to raise awareness and lead by example. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The original inspiration to write this thesis evolved as a natural progression from a commission, commencing in late 2008, for the Australian Centre for Event Management. I would like to thank Wendy Symonds for her wonderful idea to create a series of sculptural installations to demonstrate sustainable practice in a visually exciting way, for inviting me to design and create the pieces, and for her support and enthusiasm throughout the project. Wendy’s conviction that the visual arts and design are powerful educational tools has become my own and was the direct inspiration for this research. I would like to express my gratitude to the College of Fine Arts for enthusiastically supporting my research and for awarding me a travel grant which enabled me to interview art and design practitioners in the UK and Italy, and the opportunity to present at an important design conference in Rome, which resulted in the publishing of my paper. I would like to express my appreciation and thanks for the guidance, encouragement and support of my supervisor Carol Longbottom, whose enthusiasm and belief in my work was vital to its completion and to my co-supervisor Rod Bamford, for his erudite ideas and wise counsel. The writing of this thesis was greatly enriched by the contributors who generously offered their time and knowledge. A special thanks to Allan Giddy who spent hours with me discussing his views on art and sustainable practice, all of which was invaluable to my research. I would like to thank Warren Langley, Steve Howarth, Mary-Anne Kyriakou, Martin Goodrich and Gianluigi Ruju whose work, ideas and commitment to developing best sustainable practice was truly inspirational. iii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 3.1 “Noon Solar Bag” Palmer & Fairbanks, USA 2004 35 3.2 “Excerpts from the “Universal Lab” Peterman, USA 2005 35 4.1 “Cloud of Bats” Middleton, McDermott & Baxter, Sydney 2009 47 4.2 “Cycle!” Clouston Associates, Sydney 2009 47 4.3 “Lighting The Sails” Eno, Sydney 2009 48 5.1 “Weather Cranes” Giddy, Sydney 2007 53 5.2 “Aspire” Langley, Sydney 2010 53 5.3 “Light Blossom” Philips 2009 58 5.4 “Spiralight” Carpenter, Cologne 2007 58 5.5 Star City Xmas Tree, Ainsworth, Sydney 2009 61 5.6 OLED 61 5.7 “Volume” United Visual Artists & Del Naja, London 2006 62 5.8 Light Emitting Plasma 62 5.9 “Powerseed” UeBERSEE, Pasadena, USA 2007 66 5.10 “Siemens Superstar” Pendry, Munich 2008 66 5.11 “Sonumbra” Gmachi & Wingfield, Loop pH, London 2008 69 5.12 “Silicon Forest” Borello, Portland USA, 2004 69 5.13 “Lux Nova” Hall, Vancouver 2008 71 5.14 “Solar(Eco)System” Macca and Masi, United Arab Emirates, 2010 71 5.15 “Interior Spaceship” Ainsworth, Sydney 2006 104 5.16 “Tree Cycling in the Rocks” CMA, Sydney 2010 104 7.1 “Aspire” Goldworthy, USA 2008 121 7.2 “Aviary For Humans” Mauri, Italy 2006 121 iv SUSTAINABILITY BY DESIGN CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS & SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF FIGURES iv 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 1 1.2 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 2 1.3 RESEARCH FOCUS AND QUESTIONS 3 1.4 DEFINITION OF TERMS 4 1.5 LIMITATIONS 7 1.6 RATIONALE 8 1.7 STRUCTURE 8 PART ONE: THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AN EXAMINATION OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE AND ITS IMPACT ON PUBLIC ART, EVENT DESIGN AND EXTERIOR INTERVENTIONS. 2. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN 2.1 PRELUDE 10 2.2 THE MEANING OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN 11 2.3 HISTORY OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN 13 2.4 THE ROLE OF THE DESIGNER 16 2.5 CONCLUSION 21 v 3. SUSTAINABLE ART 3.1 PRELUDE 22 3.2 THE MEANING OF SUSTAINABLE ART 23 3.3 HISTORY OF SUSTAINABLE ART 27 3.4 A SYNTHESIS OF SUSTAINABLE ART & DESIGN 30 3.5 RE-USE, REDUCE & RECYCLE 33 3.6 THE IMPLICATIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR CONTEMPORARY ART 37 3.7 CONCLUSION 39 4. THE IMPLICATIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR EVENT DESIGN & PUBLIC ART 4.1 PRELUDE 40 4.2 PUBLIC ART & THE EVENTS INDUSTRY 41 4.3 PUBLIC ART & SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE 42 4.4 A FUSION OF PUBLIC ART, EVENT DESIGN & SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE 45 4.5 CONCLUSION 49 PART TWO: STUDIO INVESTIGATIONS A STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS, TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES: EXPERIMENTATION, CASE STUDIES AND INTERVIEWS. 5. SUSTAINABILITY AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS 5.1 PRELUDE 50 5.2 SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES 50 5.3 SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS 79 5.4 THE GREENER PRACTICE 95 vi 5.5 SUSTAINABILITY & THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE 109 5.6 CONCLUSION 112 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 PRELUDE 113 6.2 RESEARCH RESULTS 114 6.3 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS 117 6.4 RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS 118 6.5 SEMIOTICS & INNOVATION: TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 120 6.6 CONCLUSION 123 7. PERSONAL PRACTICE 7.1 PRELUDE 125 7.2 TOTEMS 126 7.3 DISCS 144 7.4 FORESTS OF THE TIDE 151 APPENDICES CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS & FORUMS 176 EXHIBITIONS 177 PUBLISHED WORK 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY 179 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same thinking that created the situation” (Einstein 1946). AMRINE 1946:7 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Art and design in its many forms, whether it is painting, sculpture, music or architecture, often reflect our times. They encapsulate the mood of the era and speak of issues, which are important to the individual and the community as a whole. International media suggests, that global warming and environmental sustainability are issues, which are uppermost in today’s thinking. The idea of recycling and sustainable practise as a politically correct action is a fairly recent phenomenon. Artists and designers, working in this field, do so for political and environmental reasons, others find it fascinating and challenging to create something new from something old. My journey into this field began in 2008, when I was commissioned to create a series of sculptural installations for the Australian College of Event Management (ACEM1), University of Technology Sydney (UTS) which would address the current issue of global warming by demonstrating how beautiful artworks could be made, using sustainable practice. These artworks, designed for inclusion in a conference on the same topic, would act as an educational tool, demonstrating the various ways sustainable practise could be adopted. The adventure began, at Reverse Garbage, a company, which collects and recycles unwanted industrial material and has recently included scrap metal yards and engineering workshops. The idea of a process of metamorphosis appealed to me; transforming something from one thing into another; as does the potential to recreate, re- 1 The Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM) was established in 1999 to further develop and support the work of the University of Technology, Sydney in event management education, training and research.