SUPERCYCLERS (NSW + VIC)
Supercyclers is a collective of designers concerned with expanding ways of incorporating sustainability into designed and built world. The original supercyclers Sarah K and Liane Rossler are joined by supercycler Tamara Maynes in this exhibition.
SUPERFUSION AND SUPERBLOWN
Superfusion (2013/14) builds on the Yours To Care For Project (2012) by Supercyclers.
Liane Rossler and Sarah K began this investigation
with a clear plastic drinking straw, discarded in the millions everyday and swept into our oceans in many cases, and gave it a new function in the simplest way possible - by fusing one end with heated hair tongs (found in most girl’s bathrooms).
The straw suddenly became a container capable of holding water and supporting life. Each flower or sprig of green is isolated in its own horizontal vase and given space for us to appreciate its beauty.
Plants we might usually consider weeds are re- examined and appreciated in this isolated singular environment.
Superfusion takes this idea one step further. By fusing a valuable material; copper, brass, carrera marble, to the Yours To Care For vase, Sarah K has lifted the plastic straw far away from its status as junk, so that it now has a literal value at least equal to that of the precious material it is fused to. Its function is also evolved to stand vertically on a surface, like a more traditional vase.
Wallflower is a collaboration between Sarah K and craft queen Tamara Maynes.
Tamara has woven the superfused vases with a ring of copper into a complex vertical macramé garden, which can
act as a living room divider or wall decoration. This work is valuable because of the skill and hours Tamara spends working by hand, where no short cuts can be taken and no element is outsourced. The value of Tamara Maynes’ work is priceless because aside from an artist’s eye and a skilled hand, the key ingredient in all her products is time – the most precious of all our commodities.
Superblown Liane Rossler has been saving empty bottles with
a purpose. A glass bottle is a thing that will last an indeterminate length of time in our oceans. Originally made from sand, the energy to create it is equal to the heat in a volcano. Liane has created a series of delicate glass bubbles blown directly from the bottles, creating a new lease of life for them as vases. The resulting objects now embody her distinctive organic style, lifting the bottles far enough away from their origin that the colour is the only signifier of their former existence.