Students address sustainability through creative outcomes
Three students from the Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) in Design have used a diverse range of mediums to create different works addressing sustainability and a desire for social change.
Student Becky Sees has designed a game to help educate young adults about global sustainability. The game, called SuDeGo!, requires players to work together to develop all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The players face obstacles along the way and must complete their goals within a time limit and before running out of resources.
“I wanted to create a method for people to familiarize themselves with the concept of sustainability that is educational, engaging, and entertaining,” Becky says. “The full scope of sustainability is complex and can be daunting to understand, because it includes not only conservation and protection of the natural environment, but is also linked to social justice, peace, and equality.
“I decided to focus on the United Nations goals because they embrace every aspect of global sustainability and specifies measurable targets towards the development of this sustainability.”
Becky plans to produce and release a mobile app to accompany the game, and ultimately look into production and sale of the game itself, liaising with the United Nations and using the marketing and management skills she gained during her degree.
Becky joined the Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) degree after six years as a product engineer.
“I found that the creativity required in engineering was more technical than artistic, and I was hungry for the opportunity to embrace a more imaginative form of innovation. This degree was a logical stepping stone towards a more creative career, embracing both the art of design and the practical considerations behind using that art to make a living.”
Student Daniel Gardner has created a photography series called Plastic of Wellington. This series uses photography to illuminate and recontextualise the plastic waste that has become an accepted and ignored part of our cities. The images aim to provoke empathy and awareness of single-use plastic use on individual, household, and community levels, showcasing Wellington’s waste habits and how we use plastic in our everyday lives.
“Sustainability is extremely important in the modern world and affects the wellbeing of everyone,” Daniel says. “If everyone committed to a sustainable lifestyle then our problem with plastic waste polluting our planet would be much more manageable.”
Daniel says he chose this degree programme for the freedom to create whatever he wanted and to have the chance to interact with and learn from people in many different disciplines. He plans to develop his ideas and images from the project for use in other areas, and he also hopes to exhibit his work outside a typical gallery setting, including delving into more public work and partnering with local sustainable businesses.
Student Luca Riberio’s work TRAMA is a redesign of a traditional Brazilian Carnaval costume. It uses fashion, industrial, and costume design to explore new garment options that are sustainable and looks at new alternatives to the wasteful production cycles attributed to traditional Carnaval costume production. Luca’s work also uses 3D printing to create a fully recyclable textile that behaves like fabric.
“I have a strong passion for big cultural productions, especially the Brazilian Carnaval because it was a big part of my upbringing,” Luca says. “The waste involved in making costumes for this event was always something that interested me, and I wanted to consider sustainable aspects of materials and technologies that could be used in the mass production of garments, as well as looking at digital fabrication.”
Luca pursued this degree to engage with his previous product design work in a more artistic way while having access to digital fabrication technology. Luca hopes to continue working in sustainable digital fabrication and plans to enter his current work into the World of Wearable Arts event.