Waste as a resource: an exploration of sustainable processes in the Ceramics Studios of UKZN through the practice and creative production of Natasha Jane Hawley.

Abstract

The following study is a practice-based research project that incorporates theoretical and practical components in order to identify more sustainable systems in the Ceramics Studio of the CVA and to understand the relationship between, process, media and concept in the creative practice of the researcher, Natasha Hawley. The studio based practice focuses on a Zero Waste philosophy, altering existing studio practice and integrating waste as a medium. The main concepts of practice include experimentation, sustainable practice, waste as an aesthetic medium, visual art materiality theory and cultural materiality theory. The theoretical framework integrates sustainability and materiality. An in-depth examination of the effects of waste on the environment supports the context and relevance of a sustainable approach on which this study is based. An interrogation of materiality theory pertaining to the visual arts and social systems provides insight into the embodied meaning of the vessel in my work. This exploration is reinforced by the studio practice, which reflects on the physical qualities and processes of the media. The style of writing pertaining to creative practice in this research has been based on the reflection, reflexive style as prescribed by the practice-based research approach. This discussion focuses on the physical and historical materiality of my key media and the vessel form, and the contribution of process to embodied meaning. Images and journal references are accompanied by in-depth descriptions of the media and process in order to establish their fundamental connectedness. Additionally the modes of display and contribution by peer-review in the set up of the final exhibition illustrate the importance of appropriate display tactics.