Circularity in Motion The Rebirth of Fabric
Preface Circularity in Motion started with myself coming back to Japan due to the covid pandemic and realising how behind Japan was with climate action. The fact dawned on me when I was having a conversation with a friend and he asked me “is the climate crisis real?” Japan rarely talks about cliamate change nor their trajectory of their action. I was fortunate enough to be able to have an indirect connection to the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which I realised how even the government was in trouble and did could not come to a decision of their course of actino towards climate change. This documentation which travels alongside the journey of a discarded fabric scrap, is to create an example away from the traditional linear cycle of materials. It is not at all an action every single person should follow, but is a means of deepening ones understanding of the circularity of resource.
Table of Content 1
Fashion Industry and the Climate Crisis
5
Circularity in Motion
15
Summary
1
Vogue (2020)
Fashion Industry and the Climate Crisis
Issues of the Fashion Industry The fashion industry is a major contributor to the climate crisis. The rise of fast fashion from the end of the 20th century has continued to this day with its linear system of take, make, and waste. The production and manufacturing phase has negative impact on sustainability including water pollution, untreated toxic waste waters from textile factories that are dumped directly into the rivers. The water at times contain substances that are toxic for aquatic life and millions of people living by the river banks. Contamination of the river which eventually spreads into the sea and spreading across the globe. Water consumption of the fashion industry, from the production of cotton(20,000 litres of water are needed to produce one kilogram of cotton), used during the dyeing and finishing process. Microfibres polluting the water, when synthetic garment gets washed it is estimated that 700,000 individual microfibres are released into the water. Clothing waste due to fast fashion that go directly to landfill or is incinerated. Clothes that are made from synthetic fibres are said to take up to two hundred years to decompose, considering how 72% of our clothing are made up of synthetic fibres this is a very upsetting matter. Chemicals in the fashion industry are used in the fibre production of dyeing, bleaching, and wet processing which are harmful to the skin. Farmers that grow cotton are exposed to diseases and premature deaths due to the chemicals. Not to mention the chemicals also lead to freshwater and ocean water pollution and soil degradation. Soil degradation is caused from overgrazing of pastures through cashmere goats and sheep raised for their wool, as mentioned before, soil degradation due to massive use of chemicals, deforestation caused by wood-
based fibres such as rayon. Greenhouse gases emission from the fashion industry which are estimated to account for 10% of the global carbon emissions. Energy use during production, manufacturing, and transportation are some of the cases. Synthetic fibre which are in our clothes are made from fossil fuel. Considering how many of our clothes are produced in China, Bangladesh, or India, these countries often use coal energy which produces more carbon than other energy. Every stage of creating the clothes that we wear are built on top of the ruining of our environment. Ergo it is crucial that humanity works on changing when it still can.
2
3
CGTN (2021)
Future Vision Since the planet already has an abundance of materials, it does not make sense to create more. In which case one would have to ask, what is the transition the fashion industry has to make in order to make a circular economy a reality. The ideal future would be the complete circularity of resource, meaning there would be no waste. The material thought of as waste, will circulate into another item to be used continuously, forever. In order to do so, it is important to design in a way where every element is recyclable and not ending in landfill or incinerated. For those who do neet see the urgency of climate action should realise and remember how human society is built up and mainted with the premise of a safely operating planet.
4
Circularity in Motion
5
Concept A parent’s affection is forever lasting. Similarly, sustainability is one that is welcoming to all and it is a step to turn our society into something mutually giving to the environment.
Circularity in Motion (2021)
Circularity in Motion is an installation piece created by discarded fabric scraps. The project takes off from the idea that there are vast possibilities with materials that are considered unwanted. Creating an installation piece is one solution to tackling this problem, but it is still one of many. I would like to showcase the process of creating this piece, and the share the opinion of the people that were involved in creating.
6
Top: Rolls of leftover fabric scraps to discard: KARSEE factory (2021) Bottom: Discarded uniforms collected over the weekend at KARSEE (2021)
KARSEE Factory
7
Circularity in Motion was created in collaboration with Japanese female business suit brand, KARSEE. The brand who is ranked third in the industry had difficulties dealing with their leftover fabric. The photographs at the top are from when I visited their manufacturing factory where rolls of fabric that were planned to be discarded were taken out. The photograph to the left are unsold uniforms which was collected in two days at the brand’s office in Ginza, Tokyo.
“Yes we throw them all away” “I’m not sure what you can do with them” - KARSEE factory worker (2021)
KARSEE had issues dealing with remaining rolls of fabric and unsold business suits, therefore rather than discarding the items, I suggested to up cycle the items in order for the fabric to be reborn anew. At the manufacturing factory, the workers did not seem to understand or could not imagine what I was trying to do with the discarded items but did seem excited to see the transformation.
8
KARSEE factory in Tochigi. Factory worker pulling out rolls of fabric, due to be discarded (2021)
Fabric Board PANECO is a 90cm x 90cm sized fabric board made from discarded fabric scraps. With one ton worth of fabric, 250 boards can be made. Sending over unwanted fabric from KARSEE, Workstudio, the company that creates the fabric board, were able to make seven boards, all from fabric scraps born through the manufacturing process, over supplied fabric rolls, and unsold clothing.
“It is very exciting that you are making an artwork out of the fabric boards” “I would love to see what they become” “Also, the fabric board is quite hard to handle, if you find anything whilst making the artwork I would like to know.” - PANECO inventor (2021)
The fabric board was a brand new invention where not much was known about the material. As a result, the artwork did not solely become a collaborative project with myself and KARSEE, but also the inventor of the material as well.
9
10
Left: Close-up of fabric board (2021) Right: 90cm x 90cm fabric board (2021)
Cutting fabric board at wood workshop (2021)
11
Cutting fabric board at wood workshop (2021)
Wood Workshop In order to get the fabric boards into the desired shape, I went to a wood workshop. The owner of the shop was not keen on using the tools to cut the fabric board since he claims he only works with wood.
“I don’t want to cut this material, it’s not wood” “The material is melting right after I cut with a jigsaw, I’m going to have to use a new blade now” “I don’t want you using the band saw machine because it’ll be hard to fix the machine when you ruin it” “I would rather not have cut this material to be honest” - wood workshop owner (2021)
As mentioned by the inventor, there were many difficulties with handling the fabric board. Due to the board being made out of collected fabric materials, the percentage of material was not stabilized throughout all the boards. Some boards created bulks of melted fabric after being cut, some boards stuck together even after being cut due to friction. What I can say is that the wood workshop owner seemed to have enough of the material and would desire not to cut it again. The workshop owner himself is a creator and had a general knowledge on sustainability, but he did not seem to care about what the fabric boards were going to turn into.
12
13
Top: Beading and threading installation at KARSEE office (2021) Bottom: Suspending installation at KARSEE office (2021)
KARSEE Ginza office
KARSEE Ginza Office Rather than introducing the work only when it is complete, I incorporated an interactive element where I worked on creating the installation at their Ginza office. By assembling each piece at the office, it gave an opportunity for the employees to ask about the project.
“What are you making” “I cannot believe this board is made up from our company’s fabric” “Could you tell me more about the concept” “What are some research that I can look into that relates to this piece?” - KARSEE employees (2021)
The employees were keen on knowing more about the piece. The exhibit of the installation was going to take place at the office, meaning when outside guests visit, they would have to know about the installation in case they are asked about it. Though not an ideal form of taking interest, this is one way they could know more about sustainability and the circularity of unwanted material.
14
Summary
The process of Circularity in Motion has been mostly positive. The people who were involved were excited to see what the final form would be. Even if they were not interested in the artwork, by talking about the piece, it gave room to introduce more on circularity of materials and sustainability relating to design. Circularity in Motion became an entry point for those who are interested in the topic. Sustainable art may be common in the UK, but the concept is still fresh in Japan. Hence, it is important that Japaneses citizens are exposed to different types of sustainable art in order to widen their knowledge in the possibilities for transitioning into a circular economy.
15
Circularity in Motion (2021)
16
