Reincorporating the value of metal waste by applying it as a pigment
‘Ignorance is Bliss’ began as a project about reincorporating the value of metal waste by applying it as a pigment from industries such as drinking water supply and soil remediation companies. Agne Kucerenkaite experimented with various techniques to find the use of this waste product by conducting broad-scale material research including ceramics, textiles, and glass.
The colors are retrieved purely by using pigments from waste.
In this project, surprisingly, the more contaminated the raw material, the greater the potential is for designed objects. Agne Kucerenkaite uses waste, instead of buying industrially produced color pigments from these same metals.
In 2017 Agne Kucerenkaite got a commission to translate her research into a series of ceramic tiles, which were handmade and colored 100% using industrial metal waste. Tiles were integrated into the interior of Jordy’s bakery and restaurant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The interior was a success, leading to upscaling the tile production.
Since the Industrial Revolution ignorance and negligence have generated overloaded landfills in our throwaway culture.
Ignorance is Bliss
… is an ongoing project, a platform, where theoretical and material research is conducted, waste and secondary raw materials are upcycled to small and large scale applications and transformed into products, and which encourages collaboration between designers, environmentalists, scientists, architects, manufacturers, multinational companies and global players.
Circular Economy and sustainability are macro trends
… which are rather a necessity. Agne is confident of her role to recover the value of a currently‘valueless’ and even toxic metal waste in a functional, process-efficient and scalable way.
Product details
Sizes: | individual on request |
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Material: | clay, recyceled metal waste |
Copyrights: | Republiek: Interior Designer Anne Claus / Photographer Kasia Gatkowska |
Sustainability criteria
Country of origin: | The Netherlands |
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Origin of materials: | The Netherlands |
Function: | experimental, circular ability |
Manufacturing processes: | handmade to individual customer requests |