Connections
It is intended that the tableware will make you think about your role in the complex theme of air quality. It is about finding the connection, in the shared interest that everyone breathes, to come to solutions. Different “unique worlds” come into contact with each other, intentionally or accidentally.
First of all, expertise is needed which is acquired and involved in the development of a tableware in every new city; that of air quality and that of ceramicists. More coincidentally new connections happen by the encounters that take place on the street, during the “harvesting” of the raw material for the glaze, the threshold for talking to each other is then low. Streets are strategically chosen for this: busy traffic streets along which many people live, in different neighborhoods and residential environments. A conscious choice, because it is precisely there that many people are exposed to air pollution, and that is where improvement can take place. Good places for such conversations.
Eventually, the various initiatives – the Smogware Studios – of different (world) cities will interconnect, and a new network will be created.
Join?
You can participate in different ways in the Smogware project, like hosting an event or workshop. As a way of participative urban mining, people can go harvesting the dust in their most polluted city roads. This dust can be turned into a glaze that can be applied on a porcelain surface. After firing in a kiln it is ready to give back to the participants.
For more information or other options and ideas you are welcome to send an email to iris@lab-air.nl or annemarie@lab-air.nl