From Dust to Dust:
Regenerative Aesthetic
Interactive Installation Design
Art reflects the society at certain moment and cannot escape the alienation of capitalist conditions. Consequently, art produces a large amount of material waste and pollution. In this project, I not only use Blender and Unreal Engine to render the sculpture digitally but also use touch designer to visualize the sustainable concept. I believe art still has the potential to encourage a shift towards more sustainable behaviors and systems to fuel new life expressing the ancient biblical verse “From Dust to Dust” by utilizing sustainable and biodegradable materials, especially urban sculptures.
01 BACKGROUND
About waste and pollution in art works
Urban sculptures have been empty in content and simple in form. It is not recognized by the public in terms of aesthetics and culture, resulting in sculpture pollution.
A fire at a dumping ground near the Paso de la Mula favela, in Alto Hospicio, Chile.
In 2017, the numbers of consumers buying clothing increased by 60% compared with 2000, and the production of fashion accounts for 10% of the total carbon emissions, and destroys water sources.
According to International Union, about 35% of plastic particles in ocean come from washing polyester fiber clothes, which are estimably 31% of ocean plastic pollution.
News and Reports
The pollution generated by art has thoroughly permeated and deeply ingrained itself within the entire art system. Most of the art, especially urban sculptures, is superficial in content and simplistic in form, merely possessing grand structures but lacking soul.
02 PROBLEM RESEARCH
Deaths from outdoor air pollution, 2019
Plastic waste emitted to the ocean per capita, 2019
This is an annual estimate of plastic emissions. A country's total does not include the waste that is exported overseas and that may be at higher risk of entering the ocean.
The data reveals that human activities are leading to significant pollution, which are causing severe health and environmental harm. This situation necessitates action to shift towards sustainable practices.
Problem Analysis
What is the future of art?
According to the evolution of art, art has gone from serving the ruling classes to being able to empower the environment and society in the future. Art in the future, in my opinion, should be a pleasure to the public, an empowerment to the economy, a sustainable development to the environment without leaving any negative influences on the earth.
My inspiration comes from an old Chinese poem. The chinese meaning of it is, “Flowers did not forget the nurturing of the tree roots, and bid farewell to the tree roots with infinite nostalgia and affection, and would rather turn into spring mud to protect the tree roots in return for the tree’s nurturing grace.”
I hope to use some biodegradable materials to build urban public art installations, which are both environmentally friendly and convey the concept of environmental protection in the city. The materials used to build the device can eventually be degraded into fertilizers for farmland use.
04 SKETCH
The material making process begins with mycelium cells grown on a bed of renewable, organic substrate.
The harvested mycelium is processed and transformed into sheets of soft biomaterial.
Billions of cells, or hyphae, form a densely interconnected network of soft foam that is harvested to make the material.
Collage
03 INSPIRATION
Biodegradable metal
Biomaterial
05 CONCEPT
Most urban sculptures are empty in content and simple in form, with only a large structure and a lack of spirit, causing a certain degree of environmental pollution. It is not recognized by the public in terms of aesthetics and culture, and at the same time, it is constantly polluting the environment.
This is a work of ecological sculpture, which uses degradable bioplastic materials and has the characteristics of non-permanence. This ecological materials used can also reversely nourish the land during the subsequent degradation process.
I hope my design is a capstone for future urban sculpture design, advocating artists to pay attention to environmental protection while creating art. Art still has the potential to encourage a shift towards more sustainable behaviors and systems by utilizing sustainable and biodegradable materials, especially urban sculptures. I intend to discuss sustainable development of urban sculpture and establish the public awareness of urban sculpture creation.
CONCEPT VISUALIZATION
I used touch designer to create a pointillized version of a sculpture, imitating the fleeting nature of flowing sand. The method of dispersion from top to bottom represents the nurturing of life in the soil beneath, which then provides nutrients from the bottom up, forming a life cycle.