'Mass Reduction' presented the work of artists and designers who through playful transformation of textile remnants and interrogation of linear modes of textile consumption offer innovative creative design approaches to confronting textile waste.
Artists included Eileen Braybrook (VIC), Aaron Billings (VIC), Elise Cakebread (VIC), Aphra Cheesman (VIC), Joanna Fowles (NSW), Blake Griffiths (NSW), Eloise Rapp (NSW), RaasLeela (INDIA), Reiko Sudo/NUNO (JPN) and Lisa Waup (Gunditjmara/Torres Strait Islander/VIC). Mass Reduction ran at the ATW from 17 March to 3 June 2022.
Works created by these artists provided an antithesis to heedless textile production by championing mending and embracing wear and tear, privileging waste materials in design, slow process and repurposing and reusing textile waste. As well as through material choices, many artists employed a theoretical investigation into how we create and consume textiles and invite reflection on the value of post-consumer materials.
Presented as part of Melbourne Design Week 2022, ‘Mass Reduction’ spoke to broader concerns around the waste created by the textile and apparel industries and current modes of ‘end-of-life' resource consumption. This exhibition promoted rethinking design process and material choices, reduce environmental impact and posited the transformation of textile waste to an even higher value textile product.
VIEW THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE HERE
Mass Reduction is proudly supported by the City of Port Phillip. This exhibition is part of Melbourne Design Week 2022, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV.
