During Design March Iceland Ocean Cluster hosted the art exhibition 1200 Tons curated by Milja Korpela, designer at the IOC. The exhibition was recently covered in the established online design magazine FOLD. The author, Ieva Laube, says on 1200 Tons:
Responsibility for what we create
The subject of ecological responsibility, sustainability and optimal utilisation of resources strongly resonates within Icelandic design and society, seeing design as an instrument for a progressive future. On the day when Reykjavik is hit by one of the harshest storms in months, we make our way to the harbour where in the premises of Iceland Ocean Cluster an exhibition «1200 TONN», addressing the pollution issue, is being opened.
1200 tons is the amount of fishing nets, plastic containers, batteries and other types of marine litter that the voluntary environmental organization «Blái Herinn» (Blue Army) has collected in the last two decades from open areas and Iceland’s coasts. The exhibition plays on the possibilities of turning this litter into usable and attractive products. Thorunn Arnadottir has mastered net–making skills and used dragnet fibre to create a collection «Skip Ahoy!» of playful objects, also incorporating materials found in nature — reindeer antlers and bones. Aged fishnet buoys have been cast by Kristbjörg Guðmundsdóttir and made into porcelain bowls and unglazed porcelain lamps with energy efficient LED bulbs that radiate a calm light. Driftwood, wrapped in old, massive fishing ropes, handcrafted by local seamen, have been turned into stools «Kadlakollurinn» by Dagny Bjarnadottir. The curator and author of exhibition’s visual identity, Finnish designer Milja Korpela has created pillows «Puðar», inspired by the universal marine signal flags and made out of re–coloured fabric leftovers and durable materials used in the marine industry. She is also the author of the beautiful infographic posters in which, with the use of pastels and fine drawings, the statistics of ecology’s bitter reality has been portrayed.
