(Wo)Manifesto of the maker.
A justification of my practice for those that need it.
It is so easy nowadays to use materials which are cheap and quick to access. We don’t have to think about where they’ve come from, we don’t have to consider who made them or where they were mined. We could easily wander through life taking and never giving.
We see things-materials, objects, lifestyles- buy them, use them, dispose of them and the cycle continues.
But look at any newspaper, any TV channel, any posters in railway carriages and you will see things aren’t right. Nature is in turmoil. And that’s because of us. Human beings. Human doings. Human un-doings; undoing species and habitats which have taken millennia to develop.
In this chaos, I question whether I should continue being a maker. How can I in all good conscience as a conservationist and an ardent champion of nature, be a producer?
“What gives me the right to use these materials?”
“What gives me the right to make these objects? Objects which are not necessary?”
Art and design, it could be argued, is not necessary. It is not necessary to have a cushion on a chair in your house filled with objects you have collected in memory of travels around places you have been. You could easily sit on a log in a hut and exist. But it’s not about existing, it’s about living.
It’s not about saying we need to go backwards, it’s not about saying we have to shut off all developments and go back to living in the cold. It is about asking, how do we use our skills as artists and designers and makers to encourage people to care? How do we as artists and designers and makers create and invent systems and objects and lifestyles which allow us to live as part of Nature, not apart from it.
What is necessary is a constant reminder thatnature is not “other”.
We arenature. There is no “Other.”
Not if we want to ensure human beings have a future on this planet. Because the world will ultimately keep turning with or without us. Human beings could all disappear tomorrow and the world would carry on in one guise or another. But if we want to ensure we play a part in the future, we need to take action now.
So how can I as a maker do that?
Surely if I am to continue, I have to be a part of a system which destroys habitats for the manufacture of products for our comfort and entertainment? Surely I have to sell my soul in order to sell my products?
No.
I can’t.
I won’t.
But how?
Well, do I need to use brand new materials? No? Then I can look around me and repurpose materials which other humans are ditching at an alarming rate. I could use materials which are a by-product of another system therefore becoming a part of the clean-up operation of that industry. If I do this, my work is showing how these materials have a lifecycle beyond this waste.
But hang on, I want to make this object in this way and to do that I need new material.
Ok, so how about you use sustainably sourced materials? Ones which are more local to you and so cost less in air miles and travel? How about you look at developing your own materials from your local surroundings and connect to the wild patches which surround you the moment you step outside your front door?
But now I have made this object, this thing, I’ve realised that person doesn’t need it. They just want it.
Ok, but in consuming your product, they are making a stand against large corporate manufacturing processes and heavily manufactured materials. They are saying that they respect the power of the individual and the skills that they possess. They are saying they care for the materiality of the object because it reflects their compassion for the environment. They are saying, I want to be a part of a future with nature at its core.
It’s about generating a curiosity for your craft and the motivation in you developing it. It’s about passing on your curiosity and encouraging others to learn from the world which surrounds them.
Artists, designers and makers are exactly the people to be helping lead the fight against climate change and the destruction of the environment. We are designing the future with knowledge and understanding initiated by scientists and researchers and conservationists. So whoever says that these are the areas to cut funding from, are obviously short sighted.
Because we are nature. There is no other.
-Daisy Imogen Buckle, November 2019.