Upcycling, a phrase coined by Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart, is the act of creating useful products from waste materials. Upcycling is the latest challenge to combat climate change.
I am exploring how to make second hand goods desirable and create new markets for contemporary craft by commissioning creative people to explore the future potential of second hand goods and waste materials making them more valuable than before.
I returned to Cumbria a few years ago and have been forming ideas around my local town Cockermouth, the auction house, the role of creativity and community action in relation to climate change.
I have been working as a commissioner and curator for the last 15 years in a variety of contexts and range of artforms so understand the issues around art in public places and the role of creativity in interdisciplinary teams. My professional work is across the North West but like many creative people you don’t get commissioned to work on your own doorstep. Through my voluntary work with Riversmeet Community Co-operative I have been implementing an Arts & Awareness programme locally which has made me rethink my approaches and what the role of creativity means in a local and global context. I want to raise awareness of the role contemporary craft, art and design can play in the climate change agenda. How a local context can inspire global solutions. The kitchen table entrepreneur approach.
I recently received a Spark Plug Curators Award from the Crafts Council to develop my project idea.
Context
One of the long standing businesses in the town is Mitchell’s auction house that has held a weekly household items & quarterly antiques sale for over 130 years. The town also has several antique shops, a weekly car boot and several charity shops including Oxfam. Each week there are items that do not sell at the auction for the £1 minimum and therefore are destined for landfill. The antiques shops are brimming with items that are not the current fashion and people don’t seem to like buying secondhand because it isn’t ‘clean’.
In the current financial and environmental crisis why do we want to spend our money on new products when many of items at the auction or charity shop just need a little bit of reworking to make them fit into our current lifestyle. This would be a cheaper and more environmentally sustainable approach that would benefit the consumer and the businesses. We could all have bespoke hand made items in our home without paying the inflated boutique prices. However without the skills, imagination and contacts of people who can help us realise these objects potential this becomes too complicated, time consuming and a potentially expensive occupation.
The Upcycling project aims to address these issues by helping people see what is possible by making second hand goods desirable by using creative people to explore their potential; make the connection with people who have the skills to remodel objects; and provide training for people who want to do it themselves. I also want to explore the role of design and aesthetics in the sustainability agenda.
I hope by working with Mitchell’s and other local organisations to strengthen the local market for second hand goods through contemporary craft we can extend their life and reposition these products not just in the local market but in the regional and national market place. Cockermouth could strengthen the traditional businesses that have grown from the auction house support, develop the contemporary craft market in this rural area and attract new customers and expertise to the area. I also hope this project will play a small role as the town rebuild itself after the recent floods.
I have been working with artists for the last 15 years usually commissioning them to do creative things in public spaces. I like to work in collaboration to develop the debate about art and the environment.
A founding member of Riversmeet, a community initiative for Cockermouth (Cumbria) working on climate change issues.
I am interested in the connections that can be made for creative approaches to local issues and using design and craft skills to provide solutions - this is a strand I am currently developing in one initiative called Upcycling.
