PLATE: Product Lifetimes And The Environment Exhibition

The PLATE (Product Lifetimes And The Environment) Exhibition explored critical themes related to how long products last in contemporary society. The topic of product longevity is examined in innovative ways through prototypes, objects, artefacts, posters, photographs and films produced by designers, social businesses, artists, researchers, lecturers and students. Featuring household products, furniture, lighting, fashion, jewellery and artworks, this collection of visual work embraced design for longevity, design for disassembly, repair and reuse, emotionally durable design, repurposing and upcycling, and the need to challenge planned obsolescence and the throwaway society. Two neckpieces by Maria Hanson were selected which explore issues connected to reclaiming, reusing and revaluing discarded materials. This work asks: How often do we throw things into landfill without a second thought? These works are part of an on-going collection, which aim to provoke a sense of consciousness about what we consume, what we discard and what we value. It is the creative response of research from an interdisciplinary project: Create and Connect. It examines how the increase of waste material from packaging (generated by the growth of tourism) in a less economically developed country (Zanzibar, Tanzania) can be used as capital for social and economic empowerment. In 2014 Hanson organised and delivered a series of co-creative participatory workshops with a group of female artisans (CHAKO) in Zanzibar town. By using design-thinking methodologies the CHAKO women were able to start to understand how they could develop products themselves rather than just replicating something that had been shown to them. These neckpieces developed as Hanson’s creative response to the environment of Zanzibar. They exploit the aesthetic qualities of discarded fragments from drinks packaging through a process of reclaiming and reworking, highlighting the value of materials and giving them a second life. The first PLATE Exhibition ran alongside the PLATE Conference at Nottingham Trent University (17 – 19 June 2015), and was curated by Rebecca Gamble.