Material Kin: Fashioning a Cellulose-Based Foam Floatation Device in Climate Breakdown

McLean, N; Crosby, A; Scardifield, K

Material Kin: Fashioning a Cellulose-Based Foam Floatation Device in Climate Breakdown

McLean, N

Crosby, A

Scardifield, K

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Publisher:: Cumulus
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Design for Adaptation. Cumulus Conference Proceedings Detroit 2022, Amy Lazet (ed.), 2023, pp. 468-481
Issue Date:: 2023

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	McLean, N https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1766-3548
dc.contributor.author	Crosby, A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8959-7971
dc.contributor.author	Scardifield, K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4112-2376
dc.date	2023-11-02
dc.date.accessioned	2023-07-05T07:02:15Z
dc.date.available	2023-01-01
dc.date.available	2023-07-05T07:02:15Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.identifier.citation	Design for Adaptation. Cumulus Conference Proceedings Detroit 2022, Amy Lazet (ed.), 2023, pp. 468-481
dc.identifier.isbn	979-8-218-07901-7
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171202
dc.description.abstract	Devastating bushfires and flooding have been ravaging the eastern and southern states of Australia since 2019. Living in Australia amidst climate breakdown demands we transition towards regenerative and sustainable material systems, but the challenge posed to designers is how do we design without extractive and exploitative processes? How do we make kin with new materials? Responding to this context, this paper highlights an alternative mode of interaction between materials and designers and shows how a critical design piece can emerge from practice-led research that promotes material kinship. I have developed the Material Kin Relational Ontology (MAKRO) – a framework that promotes a way of working and collaborating with materials and processes where ingredients, materials, and myself are all considered kin. Being kin implies relationships of reciprocity and care, which in the context of bio-based materials design can mean cultivating, cohabiting, and regenerating. This paper will position MAKRO in context and conversation with the Earth Logic: Fashion Action Research Plan (Fletcher & Tham, 2019), Haraway’s (2016) string figures, Bennett’s (2010) Vibrant Matter and Stengers’ (2018) manifesto for slow science. It will present a case study of MAKRO in action, showing the development of novel cellulose-based foam materials which are then fashioned into a critical design object – a biobased and biodegradable lifejacket responding to Australia’s rapidly rising flood waters. The lifejacket is intended to trouble the distinction between a product and a critical design object: it provides buoyancy, but it also prompts those who encounter and use it to imagine a post-petrochemical materials world, a future where we show responsibility and care towards the world and material kin.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Cumulus
dc.relation.ispartof	Cumulus
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Cumulus
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.title	Material Kin: Fashioning a Cellulose-Based Foam Floatation Device in Climate Breakdown
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location.activity	Detroit
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Design
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2023-07-05T07:02:07Z
pubs.finish-date	2023-11-04
pubs.place-of-publication	Detroit
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.start-date	2023-11-02
dc.location	Detroit

Abstract:

Devastating bushfires and flooding have been ravaging the eastern and southern states of Australia since 2019. Living in Australia amidst climate breakdown demands we transition towards regenerative and sustainable material systems, but the challenge posed to designers is how do we design without extractive and exploitative processes? How do we make kin with new materials? Responding to this context, this paper highlights an alternative mode of interaction between materials and designers and shows how a critical design piece can emerge from practice-led research that promotes material kinship. I have developed the Material Kin Relational Ontology (MAKRO) – a framework that promotes a way of working and collaborating with materials and processes where ingredients, materials, and myself are all considered kin. Being kin implies relationships of reciprocity and care, which in the context of bio-based materials design can mean cultivating, cohabiting, and regenerating. This paper will position MAKRO in context and conversation with the Earth Logic: Fashion Action Research Plan (Fletcher & Tham, 2019), Haraway’s (2016) string figures, Bennett’s (2010) Vibrant Matter and Stengers’ (2018) manifesto for slow science. It will present a case study of MAKRO in action, showing the development of novel cellulose-based foam materials which are then fashioned into a critical design object – a biobased and biodegradable lifejacket responding to Australia’s rapidly rising flood waters. The lifejacket is intended to trouble the distinction between a product and a critical design object: it provides buoyancy, but it also prompts those who encounter and use it to imagine a post-petrochemical materials world, a future where we show responsibility and care towards the world and material kin.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171202