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Exhibition Contents
The signature Exhibition image was taken on the coast by planning team members working together with the photographer Gottingham.Photo: Untitled (Your Materials #63–126), 2023 © Gottingham
Image courtesy of Nippon Design Center and Studio Xxingham
The Exhibition explores the human relationship with raw material from three starting points.
The first looks at how raw materials are adapted into medium, and how by this process we assign meaning. Thought takes over and attributes significance to the material, but at the same time, our intervention leads to the discovery of meanings latent within the material itself. The history of such relationships is to be discerned in the art, handiwork and designs that societies create.
The Exhibition's second starting point is to feel and consider how the world is entangled with the raw materials. Flora and fauna, and even we ourselves, are all part of the domain of raw material. If we redirect attention to these relationships, we might just find a way to restore lost interconnectedness. The Exhibition presents clues to how a healing might be affected, reconnecting us to the world. We present the results of research into liaisons between humanity, non-human actors and designed objects.
The third starting point takes the form of case studies. We provide examples of renewal in human relationship to those materials. People, flora and fauna are all in co-heterogeneity, and it is under these terms that we process raw materials into medium for use. These relationships can be exclusive or inclusive. If we adopt such a premise each time we take a raw material into our hands, we may find perspectives and attitudes on the design of objects start to radically transform. This section exhibits examples of processed media and projects relating to them that have come about through various approaches and technologies. We present successful case studies of the revival of links to raw materials.
Exhibits across the three sections include products created by designers and artifacts resulting from research. We show examples of artistic understanding won through involvement with raw materials. We also exhibit ritual equipment, folk craft and other items, flora, fauna and organic matter which show a capacity to go beyond human limitation. We present these items in the hope of assisting visitors renew awareness of the role of raw materials in their daily life.
