Figure 1. Mohan Lei, Ore Stream, December 30^th, 2017

The series of artwork Ore Stream by Formafantasma studio aims to challenge the way individuals construct their surroundings in historical and social aspects. Ore Stream questions the way humans construct the world by using varied materials (Ore Stream Page, 2018). It also questions the value of materials used in mass production. By challenging the concept of value and taste of products and its materials, it alerts to the principle of normative people have followed throughout the history of design (Ore Stream Page, 2018).

One of the artwork from Ore Stream, shown in the picture 1, is crafted carefully with metal and glass mainly from electronic waste. Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, the designers of Ore Stream, have taken an unusual approach to present electronic waste. Unlike most of abandoned electronic materials, the drawers from Ore Stream have a minimalist design. With careful composition, this art piece challenges the stereotype of messiness attributed to electronic waste, by visualizing its inner beauty and elegance.

The artwork addresses an interesting question of how materials are valued during production (Ore Stream Page, 2018). In my opinion, we have been constantly adding social values to materials. Prices and usage are so clearly labelled and attached to each material that we no longer question the different possibilities such materials might afford (FORMAFANTASMA, 2018). As an example, the materials used in Ore Stream are often copper, iron and steel from electronic waste. Meanwhile it is nearly impossible to identify precious metals, such as gold and platinum, in their artwork as general electronic waste is not made of such materials. Furthermore, these materials have already been categorised through language and social values individuals attribute to them. The concept of ‘Waste’ and ‘Preciousness’ are relatively subjective. We value gold and other precious materials more than other materials based on our desire and social and politic acknowledgement (Schoenberger, 2014).  However, the material itself does not contain a social value. The Ore Stream artwork questions whether we should continue valuing materials, either as precious or waste, based on the same as we have always done in the past. They also question whether we should change the way we craft and shape the world when social value is heavily constructed based on social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984) in the modern society.

The artwork also questions the boundaries between waste and the social class it usually represents. Appearing as a choice of luxury, Ore Stream defines its target audience as high class. However, the recyclable materials the product is made from contradicts the taste and luxury aesthetics attached to it. Formafantasma studio chose to use a clear and minimalist design to blur the boundaries between waste and luxury. People recognise materials and products based on their social identities as they were educated (Christoforidous, 2012). As Bourdieu (1984) discusses,

A work of art has meaning and interest only for someone who possesses the cultural competence, that is, the code, into which it is encoded. The conscious or unconscious implementation of explicit or implicit schemes of perception and appreciation which constitutes pictorial or musical culture is the hidden condition for recognizing the styles characteristic of a period, a school or an author, and, more generally, for the familiarity with the internal logic of works that aesthetic enjoyment presupposes.

Ore Stream is exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), one of the most influential art and design museum in Australia. By bringing waste materials as part of exhibition, the designers create new meanings to waste and change the values attached to such materials. Once the work of art becomes recognised in a mainstream gallery, such as the NGV, it becomes highly valued by artists, designers and other people who are interested in art and design. These people, as highlighted by Bourdieu (1984), belong to a particular group of people that consume arts – a very selective audience. This audience is usually educated to appreciate art from an early age. In this situation, the waste in the project has not only been reused and represented as a new identity of electronic waste, it has become art as a new identity by itself.

I wonder whether the exhibition itself has already selected/ be selected by its audience. Ore Stream has taken electronic materials as waste and transform to furniture.

I understand that there is great work, design and concept behind the project, but my question is, would each electronic waste have the chance to be valued the same as art as it is in Ore Stream? Would the act of electronic waste representation become an action of adding a second social value to the material and work? Do audiences value the new identity of an art piece more than thinking about the fact that people have been categorising the materials?

In my opinion, Ore Stream has represented a small amount of materials and their possibility to be reworked with. It is a great art piece to help people realize how many materials are not used to their full potential. However, it focuses more on bringing people’s attention to the problem itself rather than giving a small solution to the problem of material reuse.

References:

Figure 1. Mohan Lei, Ore Stream, December 30th, 2017, Photographed at National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984), 1–7.

Christoforidou, Despina. 2012­_­. Good Taste vs. Good Design: A Tug of War in the Light of Bling. Elin Olander, Anders Warell and Lisbeth Svengren Holm, The Design Journal, Vol.15, No. 2 (2012): 185- 202

FORMAFANTASMA, NGV triennial, ngv.vic.gov.au. accessed 11/04/2018

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/ngv-triennial/

Ore Stream Page. formafantasma.com, accessed 10/04/2018.

http://www.formafantasma.com/filter/home/Ore-Streams-1

Schoenberger, Erica. 2014. Nature, Choice and Social Power. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Ltd.