Carnival of Crisis
Post-Grad Community Stories | 15 November 2021
This piece is best read in its published form with images here.
The Change Agents Bazaar that took place on 5-7 November at the King’s Cross Canopy Market was nothing but a resounding success - a wonderful celebration of postgraduate creatives across UAL that came together to demonstrate creative action in the age of climate emergency. Hosted by UAL’s Climate Emergency Network in collaboration with the Change Agents Interest Group and the Post-Grad Community, the Bazaar was held under the Carnival of Crisis programme in parallel with the COP26 summit.
Being in conversation with all of the participants gave great insight into how each of the students and alumni have responded to the crisis in their own environmentally conscious way, offering ecocentric works of art as well as more ethical ways to consume fashion. The open call to the Bazaar was open to postgraduate students and alumni who might not have had any selling experience at all; it was great to see the range of sellers that spanned from very new to fully-developed businesses. The participation of UAL’s Not Just a Shop also served as a warm reminder of their support for promoting the sales of student’s work - they are currently making the application process more accessible and friendly to students who are interested in selling their work in the future.
Arriving at the market was already a feast for the eyes, springing from the bustling atmosphere of last minute set ups to the visually exciting array of artworks, clothing, and products. The iciness of an eager winter barely grovelled at the edges of the collective warmth that radiated out of the phenomenal group of participants and what they have brought there that day.
As a curious passerby, the conversations that opened up was immediately inspiring from the evident passion to the cause and care for our planet. These dialogues with each vendor was endlessly fascinating - how are these creatives addressing the global emergency in their own innovative way?
One of the booths was bejewelled with shining ceramic works - Yuhan Ding’s ever-morphing sea creatures are curiously ‘ugly’, as they described, from enduring the harsh reality of sea pollution. They might be monsters, but they are resilient monsters born out of survival. Through the muddled colours that echo oil spills, the charm of ceramics bloom - the outcome is always random, Yuhan said, just like how the impact of pollution often spirals beyond our control.
The subtle hints of red splashed through these creatures mirrored the veiled hue in Kexin Zhang’s iceberg clay sculptures next door. The red seemed to reflect the violence of the climate crisis in an effective way in these delightful forms.
“The ‘Financial Crises Handbook’, is a more lighthearted approach to a possible end of the world - making light of a situation that might not seem to have much hope. The melting ice bergs appear to be still in an ever-changing, turbulent world. ”
Posing as the perfect companion to the nearby and very colourful pieces by Mojiao Zhou, the ceramic hermit crabs huddled together in all their glazed glory. Some seen with removable shells, Mojiao recalled something in the news that made a lasting imprint - an image of a hermit crab using a doll’s head as its shell - a strangely horrific document of human impact on marine life.
The bright and fun colours used in the pieces also recalled the act of sellers harmfully painting the crabs’ shells to attract more sales. Shedding light on the sad reality of human pollution and the desperate survival of marine organisms, the pieces sparkled with golden touches in its undertones of warning.
In a similarly playful approach, Ruohan Yu tackles the regeneration of nature in the city, guiding the visitor through an engaging set of documentations of their performance piece back in China where grass is carefully planted in empty spaces on the concrete pavement. Filling in the gaps with the potential to heal, the grass-growing kits at the stall invited people in London to do the same - building a community through patches of regenerated nature.
Whilst Ruohan is planting new life into these ‘vacancies’ in our human environment, Maria Roy Deulofeu is taking the soil out of their own garden and creating ceramic pieces out of each stratum layer of the earth so close to home. The top layer usually presents a lot of human traces and artefacts, Maria explained. Stone, glass and metal fragments are melted accordingly in the firing process to create truly unique tableware out of the soil that holds indelible history. It showcases how humans are directly impacting our soil, and through this process Maria stepped from a personal approach of sourcing material from their home to thinking about the earth on a global scale.
“You have an opportunity as an artist, to engage with your immediate surroundings to produce art as well as grow an active and caring relationship with our planet.”
Also working with a labour-intensive technique, Katy Sayers Green introduced the Encaustic process that comes from a long line of history dating back to Ancient Greece and Rome in creating their alluring paintings. Around twenty to twenty-five layers of beeswax and transferred drawings are built up to depict forms of possible trees, swaying gently in the light.
“With wax having a very long wear, it decomposes naturally unlike plastics that will linger harmfully in the environment. The circular paintings of birch plywood - a sustainable choice of wood - are based on the idea of astrophysics space, and utilising microscopic images of fossils. Visually, a radical link is made with the cosmos through the micro and macro; these intuitive pieces called to the thought that we will all end up as fossils ourselves one day.”
In contrast, Shivani Mathur uses a testament of the beginning of life - the egg - to create their sculptures made out of crushed eggshells. In their research on invisibility and boundaries, the eggshell serves as the perfect metaphor for new forces emerging, in cracking the boundary that was protecting the embryo.
The tactile sculptures are modelled after the temples of Khajuraho in India, Shivani stated, to reflect on how the UK imbibes cultures. With a very involved process of taking eggshells from restaurants in the local area, the eggshells are washed, dried, and treated so they are free from bacteria. Once they have been crushed into powder - a cathartic process - they are combined with binders and moulded into the shapes.
Small butterfly-shaped pieces also dotted the display; they are symbols of the butterfly effect speaking to the climate crisis, promoting the fact that we can reduce our waste even with eggshells in its 93,000 metric tonnes of waste going into UK landfills each year. These works stand as reminders to people of the wasteful reality. In creating these pieces, a beautiful community of friendly faces was also born for Shivani in their local area.
Mel Woo’s fibrous sculptures were also created from a time-consuming and labour-intensive process - they hung defiantly near the back of the market, but were no less enticing in their quiet presence. Being very passionate about sustainability and repurposing materials, Mel pointed to a piece that had many audio wires stitched through; they are mementos left by a friend’s husband who unfortunately passed away from cancer. These memories of him have now been beautifully stitched together with these organic forms, leaving a lasting ode to his life and memory.
Another two of the hanging sculptures displayed here were at the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden and became weathered over time, becoming one with the trees. Mel is very aware that these sculptures will inevitably take up space, and makes sure that the space is always taken up ethically, with materials that are either renewed, reused, repurposed, or biodegradable.
Immediately nearby is Jo Gabriele Sheppard’s sculpture ‘Cocoon’ that is made from surplus aluminium and explores ideas of conservation as well as planetary paths. They are interested in ancient forms that have existed since the beginning of time and how the past meets the present, naturally making forms that the viewer can see through. The consciousness of sourcing material and using offcuts or surplus material provides a limitation that pushes their creativity, addressing the environmental responsibilities we all have.
This notion is reflected in ‘Jetti’ by Rachel Rymar who presented a wonderful set up of hand-made scrunchies and headbands. The business was born out of realising how much scrap material came out of their collections when starting their own brand. The invisible waste is startling in fashion; being confined to the design department during their time in working for other brands there was not a lot of opportunity to see how much waste is involved in everything from the packaging to the transport of fabrics.
"You can do so much with just a tiny scrap", Rachel said, holding up a delightfully colourful scrunchie. Hoping to contact other brands to do more with how their waste can be used, Rachel noted that this is not even touching the reality of post-consumer waste. The business is a wonderful and environmentally-conscious creative outlet for them and an impressive way of promoting the use of waste fabric.
Designer Adiam Elias is also tackling the use of dead stock in an astoundingly beautiful way in their one-of-one pieces. “Bridging the gap between luxury and high street brands,” the premium brand was created with the accessibility of luxury quality at a fair price through an environmentally conscious footprint. Every piece displayed here is intricately hand-made with care with their experience of graduating from pattern-cutting.
As we shifted through the stunning designs, they explained how each fabric was once dead stock - a warm appreciation followed for the determination to use every last bit of material. These are quality one-offs and made-to-orders, using fabrics from japan with a company they trust that source the material sustainably. Even the exquisite handbag sitting peacefully on the table consists a lining made from recycled plastic bottles; a stunning blend of art and fashion. The exclusivity comes in the limited quantity they make, which not only speaks to the luxury of owning each piece but also ensures minimal waste.
Karishma Gupta with their brand Satatland (Satat being Hindi for sustainable) promotes the sustainable model of slow fashion directly as an ‘ownership-free circular fashion brand’.The outfits can be rented, leased, or bought based on how often you repeat them- and everything is made with materials that either reduce pollution or restore biodiversity. This is recycled wool, Karishma explained as they held up a beautiful evening dress - which was made from only post-consumer waste, aiming to keep textiles out of landfills.
The idea is to move from a linear to a circular economy; when you return an item it stays in the loop for reuse, and when an item is worn out it gets returned to them so it is recycled responsibly. Perhaps the positive impact of sustainable or slow fashion is hard to visualise, Karishma noted, as it may take years to get from one stage to another - but it is this precisely this kind of steady change that will contribute to the restoration of the planet.
It was wonderful to see so many creatives be conscious of how their work takes up space. Certainly for the multidisciplinary artist Jemima Sara everything is made and sourced responsibly in their local community. Obviously they love creating new things, Jemima Sara confessed, but it’s also important to be mindful of how much is produced as everything we make as humans will affect the planet in the long term. When offered to collaborate with a big brand like Anthropologie, they came to a compromise of only printing a limited edition run of twenty silk scarves instead of a big batch of product - and Jemima Sara is determined to continue with the model of small and exclusive runs in the future. One of the t-shirt designs was even screen-printed over from a previous series that hadn’t sold to avoid waste. It was inspiring to see how boldly the designs spread across the environmentally conscious collections.
For Olli Hull, the increasing need for sustainable practices is at the center of their truly one of one statement pieces. Everything is upcycled from second hand materials and clothing, with an instantly recognisable flood of hand-painted elements that explore the impacts of fast fashion, social media, and consumerism on our mental health and planet.
Their thought process is to critique from within, and through these renewed fashion pieces they unapologetically disrupt the everyday consumer by each intuitive brushstroke. The wearable artworks also aim to open up conversations around how the media spectacle distorts experiences of body image and identity in a strikingly powerful way.
Evidently, all of these inspiring individuals feel fulfilled through their practices that care for the planet - whether this be a creative outlet or creating a caring community in that process. In the realm of self-care however, the stall of Ultra Angel seemed the perfect booth to visit. As the booth came into view, its heavenly theme instantly relaxes the visitor with its wide selection of body and hair products.
The vegan body scrubs certainly smelled heavenly - the smooth blend of vanilla and honey was hand-whipped into the perfect consistency. The artwork on the labels, they explained, was inspired by women that looked like their friends and family put together as they felt there is not enough representation of women of colour in beauty products. The small business truly creates a wonderful experience in an environmentally responsible way, dedicated to those strong women figures in their lives.
A curious looking structure loomed in the back of the market that was hard to miss - the Climate Confession Booth brought here by ACAN (Architects Climate Action Network) invited visitors to admit their environmental sins to showcase people’s concerns for the climate emergency. Instead of leaving the participant with individual shame, the project hopes that reading shared experiences will inspire people towards collective action.
The very informative booth had an abundant amount of insightful research that ACAN has contributed through their many sub-groups that come together to research and work on campaigns to push real change. Architecture buildings take up a huge percentage of the carbon footprint, and there is a lot of work to do between the building industry and the waste it generates. ACAN is a group of architects who are joined by the desire to tackle climate change in this industry - there is no point in having beautiful buildings if there is no planet! To witness such a passionate group of people pour their energy into this in-depth research and campaign work was genuinely inspiring.
Another prime example of a group of passionate people coming together to create something beautiful and opening up conversations around the climate crisis is the London based magazine, It’s freezing in LA. A form of slow journalism, the magazine only prints twice a year giving writers, thinkers, and activists time to really reflect and understand various on-going issues.
There are three main things they achieve - they not only create a community between activists and writers working in this space to push climate change forward, they also provide a way of sharing those ideas in more progressive approaches to climate action for their readers. Finally they serve as a record for this critical time we are in, marking history with these vital conversations.
Every single detail is exquisitely thought out - the illustrations to each issue become a cultural object as well. The latest issue explored the theme of borders which looked at different ways borders block climate action. It included pieces about the lack of accountability private companies or corporations have as they work across borders and create damage in different countries, as well as how to support new ideas of climate migration. With the ongoing COP26 conference the magazine is looking forward to the months ahead in reflecting on the summit.
Rounding back on another brilliantly executed artwork, Hyun Jang’s virtual temple provided a powerful space for people to cast their wishes into a meticulous algorithm, to create a collective digital structure. When the wishes are gathered together, Hyun said, there is a hope that it will echo the positive energy similar to that experienced in traditional temples or religious places that is perhaps less popular nowadays.
Those divine spaces have always provided Hyun with a sense of relief and serenity, and through this virtual space they wish the hopes and dreams of people can come together to create an energy that will circulate in a beneficial way. It is a particular type of sustainability, to revive this kind of hopeful space for people - strength comes in the understanding and care for one another which is so vital in the face of a global emergency.
With this beautiful sentiment and a final gaze back at the whole Bazaar, a moment of reflection on all the passion, care, and engagement with the environment lingered through the inviting space. It was truly inspiring to see so many creatives all unite in their dedication to their creative cause in an environmentally responsible way - making anyone who comes across their craft excited for our collective future. Our planet is a one of one entity; a one of one home that we have the duty to protect, appreciate, and care for to last even after our individual lifetimes. The students, alumni, and organisations that participated in this event are moving examples of how we can all contribute in our own inspiring way.
Thank you to all those involved in making the Change Agents Bazaar happen in this critical time of our ever-changing world, especially the Post-Grad Community Team and Abbi Fletcher the UAL Carnival of Crisis Project & Campaign Manager - change was definitely in motion that weekend!