ECO CREATION VACCINE: A Creation Vaccine for the Earth
2021 ACC Social Design Lab
Summary
- Article
- Education·Forum
- #Eco-friendly
- #Social Design
- #Green New Deal
- #Sustainability
“Open talk between 12 creative participants and teams and plastic upcycling workshop”
“Prototypes integrating eco-friendly methods developed in conjunction with 10 Honam and Jeju universities”
“Research for the development of sustainable ACC content creation guidelines”
The Earth has not been kind to humanity in recent years. Massive wildfires, fine dust, and viruses continuously take thousands of lives across the world today. The origins of these disasters, however, may be nature fighting back against humanity’s abuse. A stark representation of this is the geological concept of the Anthropocene Epoch. Coined by Dutch meteorologist Paul J. Crutzen, “Anthropocene” is a combination of “anthropo-,” meaning “humanity,” and “-cene,” meaning “recent.” As evident from its etymology, the Anthropocene Epoch refers to the age where human action is the most significant driver of geological changes on Earth.[1] This concept has been expanded outside the discipline of geology, leading new discussions in biology, the humanities, and social sciences. Even if we set aside the scientific arguments on the validity of this concept, the Anthropocene Epoch still carries a significant message: humanity’s economic, social, and cultural activities have disrespected nature, and such transgressions result in dire situations.
(upcycling designer Ha-neul Kim)
(program leader Lee Cohni)
Did creation activities, which are prominently featured in our art and culture, contribute to the emergence of the Anthropocene Epoch? “Dear Amazon: The Anthropocene 2019,” was an exhibition held in the Ilmin Museum of Art. It became an avenue for discussions on the role of art in the Anthropocene Epoch.[2] The exhibition’s catalog included a comment by T. J. Demos, a British art historian and cultural critic, about the importance of materials in the humanities covering discourse related to the Anthropocene Epoch. A public art project, “Zero Makes Zero,” has been warning us about manmade materials and activities since last year.[3] These perspectives inform the “2021 ACC Social Design Lab: ECO CREATION VACCINE” project, jointly established by the multidisciplinary Creation and Production platforms of the Asia Culture Center (ACC) and Asia Culture Institute (ACI), to answer the question about how artistic creations can coexist with the Earth through investigations, experiments, and discourse.
The ACC Social Design Lab is an experimental and practical project that uses design thinking to address issues we face in the city and society. In last year’s project, the ACC and ACI joined multidisciplinary creators in upcycling discarded resources into new artworks and goods and published the ACC Green New Deal Guidebook to present environmentally sustainable creation and production methods. Alongside the expansion of last year’s project themes, this year’s project includes the participation of a more diverse stakeholders group to implement an experimental project that presents a more in-depth plan toward “creation that can coexist with the Earth.” We define the approach and result of this method as ECO CREATION VACCINE and expound on this in the chapters entitled “Understanding, Experimentation, Development, Consumption, and Establishment.”
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The first chapter, “Understanding,” features a series of lectures delivered by 12 participants (and teams), consisting of designers, creators, entrepreneurs, and influencers, to communicate the need for sustainable practices and environmental conservation in the domain of creation. The second chapter, “Experimentation,” utilizes the open-source Precious Plastic [4] project to host a workshop open to all. This foregoes single-use slogans and campaigns in favor of an experimental process where visitors can create and participate to find their own answers toward sustainability. The third chapter, “Development,” applies the capstone design curricula of 10 universities [5] in Honam and Jeju to bring the ideas of future creators, equipped with knowledge and experience in fields such as fashion, engineering, crafts, and service design, to create sustainable and alternative works and goods together. “Consumption,” the fourth chapter, involves a project wherein upcycled goods are developed and distributed in cooperation with an upcycling social enterprise that uses materials from used personal protection equipment (PPE) to create an opportunity for the public to consume, enjoy, and access the idea of the Creation Vaccine near them. The final chapter, “Establishment,” studies sustainable methods of planning and operation based on the ACC’s content creation and production process and spatial characteristics, which is then shared with the public. Through these methods, the ACC and the ACI seek to present a new idea of a Creation Vaccine, which will serve as a vantage point for the processes of creation and production.[6]
We now return to the theme of our project and ask: “How will we create for the Earth?”
We established that the act of creation is a noble and prominent human value. The core of this year’s ACC Social Design Lab project is the question, “If humanity cannot cease to create while it exists, should it not find a way to coexist with the world?” In other words, it is a process of seeking the balance between the “value of creation” and the “value of nature.” It will take us a long time to discuss and find the answers to these questions. However, if we manage to accumulate the ideas and implied knowledge involved in that process, we may find that sustainable creation can become our reality. We hope that it will involve meaningful searches, challenging setbacks, and the accumulation of assets for us and the numerous innovators that take part in this project. Just as humanity steps forward with the act of creation, we will come together, find new answers, and discover new values. In the end, we will engage in acts of creation that can coexist with the Earth.
1) Jung Eun Choi, (2020), Art of Living the Anthropocene, ACKIS Vol. 97, p.2.
2) Ilmin Art Museum, (2021), Dear Amazon: The Anthropocene 2019, p.51.
3) Kim Hwa-young, Gabyeong neomeoeseo ireonago inneun il, Zero Makes Zero Webzine, https://0makes0.com/webzine/vol4/3/
4) A plastic upcycling equipment developed by Dave Hakkens, a Dutch industrial designer, that uses the open-source method to provide the equipment, mold, products, and business models.
5) Kunsan National University, Mokpo National University, Woosuk University, Wonkwang University, Chonnam National University, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju University, Jeju National University, Chosun University, Honam University
6) The project will systematically investigate and organize the environmentally friendly methods, materials, standards, and other details applied to the ACC’s Solidarity Spores, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan’s Sustainable Museum: Art and Environment, and Seoul Museum of Art’s Climate Museum: Life and Death of Our Home, including printing techniques and modular walls.
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Written by Minu Park (Asia Culture Institute Innovations Evaluation Team)
minu@aci-k.kr
2021.11
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