Report / Masterclass Conversation Piece
Between 13 and 17 February 2017, Nicolas Cheng and Beatrice Brovia – aka Conversation Piece – gave the Mining Materialities masterclass at St Lucas Antwerp.
The duration and impact of artefacts, how things are sourced, made and eventually become waste, how materials we work with carry complex histories with them, are at the centre of the masterclass’ investigations. We will ‘mine’ our histories and surroundings, explore our relationship as consumers and makers of objects, and propose ways to problematize materials, their origins, the way they are sourced and the narratives that artefacts and materialities carry along with them, way past or independent from our intentions.
The duration and impact of artefacts, how things are sourced, made and eventually become waste, how materials we work with carry complex histories with them, are at the centre of the masterclass’ investigations. We will ‘mine’ our histories and surroundings, explore our relationship as consumers and makers of objects, and propose ways to problematize materials, their origins, the way they are sourced and the narratives that artefacts and materialities carry along with them, way past or independent from our intentions.
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The name Conversation Piece refers to informal group portraits from the late eighteenth century in which people in a domestic environment discuss everyday facts with one another. Conversation Piece wants to extend that activity to the masterclass, but then starting out from the artefact – the object that inspires and incites a conversation or discussion. Regarding their own practice and work method, they both say: ‘We have an elastic practice, an ongoing dialogue, we are making discourse’. They ask themselves what collaboration is and can mean.
Theory and practice were combined in the masterclass. In preparation for the class, participants were given three articles to read: ‘Materials Against Materiality’ by Tim Ingold, a fragment from Stuff by Daniel Miller, and ‘The Anthropocene’ by Will Steffen. Participants were also asked to gather ten objects from their immediate surroundings and to bring these with them. On the first day, all objects were placed on a table and classified from ‘object’ to ‘material’. Each object consists of one or more materials. But when do we see something as an object and when do we see it as a material? All objects were discussed collectively: what is it, what does it consist of, how was it made, is it closer to nature or to culture and why?
During this masterclass, participants were given assignments where not only one task arose out of the previous one, but where the number of working hours and the (content-related) level were increased. The first assignment was inspired by the example of the ‘plastiglomerate’, a stone that was created by melting plastic with natural materials such as wood and shells. The plastiglomerate is characteristic of the Anthropocene, the present age that was named after the huge impact that humanity has had on the environment. The participants were asked to make three new materials that illustrate how nature and culture increasingly blend with one another. They then tried to analyse, like archaeologists from the future, each other’s materials.
On the second day, participants were assigned an object at random with which they had to set to work constructively. A coin, a candle, a bouquet of tulips, a pair of jeans … Participants were requested to apply the technique of ‘reverse engineering’ (Todd McLellan): to dissect as much knowledge as possible from the object, to trace the materials as far back as possible in time and space, and to map out visually the information they found. Participants then went in search of stories linked to the artefact – from their genesis to their current use and impact. They ultimately selected three narratives, processed them in three objects and shared the stories with the group.
From the third day, the participants worked in pairs to further immerse themselves in their materials and to translate their research in objects. What is the link between coffee and candles, between tulips and chocolate? Are there connections in their materiality, development, use, meaning and impact? What are the issues of a specific material, and how can we formulate an answer to these problems? The participants tried to materialize the stories they were working on with a hands-on approach.
At the end of the week, participants presented the results to the group and the public. And they discussed their research and findings with one another.