CRTs as 'Art'

[HEXdidnt]

Over the few years since I worked on their magazine, I've been helping out the Crafts Council, updating their website ahead of their annual Collect exhibitions. This year, one of the exhibitors in the Collect Open subset is Browning Lewis (aka Dorset-based artists Karen Browning and Jon Lewis), with their 'Midden' project:

Karen Browning and Jon Lewis work predominantly in glass. They grew up in a time when a household appliance was expected to last a lifetime. Before 1900 and back into prehistory, our middens/waste dumps were layered with primarily organic materials decomposing to leave mostly just ceramics, and glass. Today’s throwaway society with planned obsolescence means modern materials and plastics will leave an indelible man-made legacy and fuel more mining for more products.

Sedimentary layers indicate variations of climate, atmospheric conditions, species and composition in geologic history. For Collect, core samples will be constructed from dismantled CRT televisions, with components melted, cast, pressed, ground, polished, blended and machined. The artists are thinking what to transform next – dishwasher, car, helicopter?

I jokingly suggested to folks at the Greenford Computer Club that members should mount a protest outside the event, considering our habit of attempting to rescue CRTs wherever found.

If anyone fancies a bit of culture, Collect is at Somerset House in London, 1-3 March - full details on the Crafts Council's website.