Central Saint Martin's Material Futures MA Degree Show 2019

Elissa Brunato, Bio iridescent Sequins, 2019, courtesy of author.

Clemence Grouin Rigaux, Hidden Beauty, 2019, courtesy of author.

At CSM’s second MA of Material Futures degree show, designers Elissa Brunato and Clemence Rigaux untangle socio-political issues embedded in materials and reimagine the future of these materials as tangible as vehicles of change. The designers consider daily material engagement, and how this is reflected in the macrocosm of humanity’s place in global ecosystems, generating practices that are poetic and shockingly accessible. Their projects take to the depths of natural world and inject familiar structures with dreamy innovations, proving the unsustainability of that conventional systems and presenting imaginative solutions from designers who see our future in the tangible materials of the present. 

Two poles of consideration when debating the potential for new materials are the factors of practicality and inspiration. Elissa Brunato and her award winning “Bio iridescent sequins”, shine spectacularly on the fantastical side of the spectrum. Similar to the sequins of her subject, Brunato does not shy away, and seizes an adored aspect of fashion many would be very reluctant to give up in the name of the environment, sparkly clothes. Brunato analyzed the constitution of synthetic sequins and duplicated the structure in naturally abundant cellulose. Beyond structural shape, Brunato worked alongside materials scientists from the RISE institute of Sweden to collaborate on colors embedded in the cellulose, to give the sequins their colorful shimmering appeal without synthetic chemicals. While many fast fashion protest efforts point to raw linens and dye free processes, Brunato proposes an innovative approach to color and finishes, reminding the industry of the possible juncture between the sparkly and the sustainable. Brunato was mentored by Claire Berqkamp, the Worldwide Sustainability and Innovation Director of Stella McCartney, demonstrating a rare manifestation of an industry power’s interest in reevaluating cheap conventional practices. This also demonstrates the accessibility of Brunato’s work, and its quick assimilation into public appeal, which is key in the time sensitive landscape of climate change. In this way, Brunato has successfully harnessed a bio-based material that can truly disrupt perceptions of production processes and can drive a more sustainable future. 

Clemence Rigaux has met the challenge of practicality with a boundlessly indiscriminate imagination. Inspired by the dire rhetoric of the slaughterhouse documentaries that have swept online streaming, she couldn’t take her mind off the waste, the piles of animal carcass being shoveling off screen. Intrigued, she discovered that from these slaughtered animals only about 40% of each can be transformed into edible flesh, the rest becomes abattoir waste which consists of a blood, bone, fat, skin, hair, animal trimmings, and urine, all of which can be hugely overwhelming to natural eco systems. Rigaux is refreshingly practical and takes a holistic approach reminiscent of Eskimo and Native American practices of consuming animals in totality. Rigaux states that currently, “animal waste we create daily is culturally associated with dirt: it must be cleaned, destroyed or disguised”. Riguax shifts this perception and renders the waste something functional and valuable. Using abattoir waste from pigs, she has developed her material with the consistency and mouldability of a liquid which hardens to a robust sturdiness. She presents her material in the form of furniture including chairs and benches of which both the smooth stable legs and leather-like seats are made. The industrial strength furniture is painfully stylish in its shiny black veneer, and a far cry from needing to be “cleaned, destroyed or disguised”. “Waste” was always merely a label, and through crafting functional objects Riguax has stylishly seized a shameful and unappealing symptom of blind consumerism and inverted it into something beautiful and inspiring, and sustainable. 

Striking a harmonic note of imagination and accessibility, the works of Brunato and Riguax demonstrate the power and agency we have over our relationships with materials and their role in our environmental coexistence. They have transcended the despair of climate change realities, yet also forgoes the blind optimism, rather imploring humans to recognize their role in the use and waste of materials yet remain inspired as to how they may adapt that role to a brighter future. With a greater awareness of the waste of fashion and meat industries, consumers reclaim their relationship with objects that rule daily life, and have agency in choosing the materials they own, and find joy in the juncture of nature and human innovation. Brunato and Rigaux following this bottom up approach, are radically shifting perspectives on materials and consumption by harnessing the profound power of the materials of our everyday life. The materials we see, smell, and touch everyday can be reimagined in a way that allows that very material to be part of a greater whole with a positive impact on the world.