Dangerous Diaries: Octagon Gallery
30 April 2015
William Morris reportedly employed arsenic-based pigments in his popular wallpapers, and artist Eva Hesse is said to have died as a result of her use of industrial materials like synthetic resins and fibreglass. But to what extent do the joys and benefits of using these materials outweigh their potential hazards?
This project explores the risks and rewards involved in fabrication by delving into the daily lives of a group of materials and making enthusiasts, including a chemist, conservator, ceramicist, geoarchaeologist, printmaker, sculptor, anthropologist and a historian. This interdisciplinary team will be keeping diaries that record their experiences of the pleasures and perils of production: from carving to cooking, printmaking to glassblowing. In conversation with artefacts from the UCL Collections, our dangerous diarists will be reflecting on how perceptions of risk and approaches to hands-on engagement with materials have changed over time.
To follow our progress, see: http://dangerousdiariesblog.tumblr.com