If you have ever wondered what your sweat would look like as crystals or how we could utilise the daily impact of our bodies to be of use to the planet then the Body Future exhibit during Mona Foma 2020 is for you.
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United Kingdom researcher Alice Potts has developed a process to transform sweat from its liquid form into crystals on surfaces of materials donated by athletes including a t-shirt, ballet shoes and innersoles to name a few.
Melbourne researcher Tarryn Handcock asked people to collect dust samples and received 200 samples from living human bodies, garments and the spaces they inhabit.
Both artists make up the exhibit as they enter into a world where the human body's functions can contribute to art and design.
Design Tasmania's executive director Claire Beal said the exhibit was on the borderline between design and art as design looked at the world as it was and proceeded to create a solution to that problem.
"The two designers that are working with these mediums are just using a different material to explore an idea and that's what design does," she said.
"We're standing here in an exhibition that is going to challenge, confront, inspire and potentially freak you out because the featured artists that we are working with are looking at the waste produced by human bodies.
"That's not going to gross you out because it's actually quite beautiful."
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She said Potts sparked a discussion and a thought process in the audience's mind.
"[Potts] looks at working with, we like to call it premium sweat, it's the sweat of high performing athletes to grow salt crystals.
"The salt crystal encrusted works are gorgeous and they also provoke you to think about what happens when you get all sweaty and when you discard things, what are you doing to do with your sweaty t-shirt."
Ms Beal said researcher Handcock worked with dust for her design meets art piece as dust was the thing no body wanted to vacuum up.
"She asked 100 individuals to collect dust samples and over a period of time she analysed them to see what it was that we really do leave behind," she said.
"We're here to show that design makes a difference, it doesn't make a difference just to a privileged few, it actually is there to show the difference it makes to everyone.
"Exhibitions like this are here to ask you to think about what you do in your everyday life, this kind of show, using unusual objects and not presenting a traditional idea of a beautifully crafted product, these are crafted by nature, these are crafted by the things that we discard and leave behind."
The exhibit at Design Tasmania opens on Wednesday as part of the festival and will continue to be exhibited at the space until March 20.
Fast Facts:
- What: Body Future as part of Mona Foma 2020
- When: January 15 5-6pm, Jan 16/17 9.30am-5.30pm, Jan 18/19 10am-4pm.
- Where: Design Tasmania, corner of Brisbane and Tamar Street, Launceston
- Tickets: Free entry during Mona Foma