If a cyclical economy is to be realised, we need to not only look at common and relatively ubiquitous materials such as wood, plastic or various wastes but also at what the European Commission calls “Critical Raw Materials”. These include rare earths such as Yttrium (used for making phosphors in the production of TV-screens and LED) or the mineral Fluorite which is a major source for hydrogen fluoride used to produce a whole range of materials. In short these are the scarce backbones of most material production.
Here is a link to a more detailed explanation: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical/index_en.htm
Challenge:
- How can we interpret and act on the politics and rhetoric of critical raw materials?
- How do we navigate an increasingly complex domain to further a cyclical economy approach?
- To what extent can we influence the consumer?
- To what extent can we influence the industry?
- How is it possible to contribute to a cradle to cradle philosophy in this industrial domain?
We want to publish a bio-degradable book that collects statements, interviews, essays and artistic contributions (visual art, sound-art, bio-art, land-art and other relevant genres) to hopefully create an inspiring overview of these issues. As such anyone is free to contribute to the book and the final collection will be available as a free ebook, while the physical copy will be a curated overview of the best contributions.
Your ideas will inspire the reader to act.
We want to think of this challenge as having a kind of life-cycle and that ideas in general have life-cycles. We need a new language, to be able to think about these issues in other more creative ways.
This project is a collaboration between the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology (LAE) based in Denmark and the Danish multi-disciplinary artist Kasper Absalon Holm (DK).
You can find more about us here https://www.facebook.com/labforaestheticsandecology
and here http://www.kasperholm.net
Join us at OSCE Days in Berlin. Or contribute here or via e-mail, which you can find on above mentioned sites.
