From Now to Eternity is a celebration of and debate around design, with a focus on one material: plastic.
Plastic is with us virtually from now to eternity impervious to bacteria, acid, salt, rust breakage and in some cases, able to withstand heat, plastic is something of a miracle substance. One hundred years ago, when it was first invented, no one could have anticipated that plastic would present one of our biggest recycling challenges.
Pioneering arts consultancy Arts Co is commissioning ten leading contemporary designs and design collectives to celebrate plastic through their work and look at ways to re-think our growing mountains of discarded plastic. The designers will show how plastic’s versatility – transparent or opaque, hard or pliant, able to take on a myriad of colours and forms – can serve their creativity.
Arts Co as part of the Concrete & Glass Festival will be holding a talk at their exhibition, ‘From Now To Eternity’, on Thursday 2nd October, 7-8pm, followed by a headline-grabbing performance by artist Mark McGowan.
This will take place at the Biscuit Building, 10 Redchurch Street, E2 7DD. To book contact info@arts-co.com / 020 7723 0285.
From Now To Eternity – Design-Art Evening during Concrete & Glass Festival, 2nd October
– Film programme – 6pm
– Talk – 7pm
– Performance – 8pm
Film Programme
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Curated by Arts Co and Victoria Brooks. The From Now To Eternity Film Programme features five films, running on a continuous loop, celebrating the history of plastic, its materiality, its nostalgic and imitative qualities.
Mika Taanila, Futuro – New Stance for Tomorrow: The Rise and Fall of the Plastic House, 1998, 29 minutes
Fourth Kingdom, Bakelite Corporation, 1938, 25 minutes
Charles and Ray Eames, Kaleidescope Jazz Chair, 1960, 6.28 minutes
Alain Resnais, Le Chant du Styrene, 1958, 19 minutes
Yoshimasa Ishibashi, The Fuccon Family, 37 minutes
From Now to Eternity: Plastic, Design and the Environment, 2 October
7:00 – 8:00 pm
The recycling of plastic is a complex issue and whilst doing right on the one hand, one often risks causing harm on the other. As in the case of bio-fuel turns out to be devastating for food supplies, an awareness of the problem and its dualities has grown. The dynamics are the same in the field of design. In 2007, Britain generated nearly 3 million tons of plastic waste but it is estimated only seven percent of this was recycled. Does it help the environment to recycle a one day gathering of plastic bottles from the office into a piece of furniture? Maybe not literally, but the intention to limit waste is at least one step in the right direction?
Lucy Siegle – Ethical Editor, The Observer
Lucy Siegle is a British journalist and writer on environmental issues. She has written a weekly ethical living column for The Observer since 2004 and two books, including Green Living in the Urban Jungle (2000) and To Die For (Harpercollins, 2008). She reports and speaks about environmental issues on TV and radio, including ITV1’s The 5 O’Clock Show with Richard Hammond, Five’s The Wright Stuff, Sky News and BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours. Siegle most current program is called Guilt Trip, a series on ethical consumerism and the true cost of consumables, which will be broadcast on BBC Two in 2008.
Mark McGowan – Artist
Mark McGowan is a UK-based performance artist currently working at the Camberwell College of Arts. He has entered the news a number of times for his unconventional approach to public protest and demonstration, which draw awareness to a range of challenging issues. McGowan has a degree in Fine Art from Camberwell College of Art, and an MA from Goldsmiths College.
Martino Gamper – Designer
Martino Gamper was hailed by Wallpaper Magazine at their awards this year as ‘Alchemist of the Year’, and described in January by the Financial Times as in a “unique position in the design world.” Gamper’s work has been exhibited internationally including the V&A and the Design Museum, and his recent project ’100 chairs in 100 days’ involving the reuse of unused materials was praised internationally for its innovation.
Simon Waterfall – Co-founder, Poke, Director D&AD
Simon Waterfall is Co-founder of Poke who received his first degree in Brunel in industrial design. He then went on to receive his Masters at the Royal College of Art in pure product design. Simon established the Deepend studio in 1994 with partners Gary Lockton and David Streek.