The By-product exhibition was part of National Gallery of Victoria’s Melbourne Design Week 2021.

BY-PRODUCT was hosted by Rachel Kelly and Ulla Britta as part of Melbourne Design week and ran 25-28 March 2021

National Gallery of Victoria’s promotion of the exhibition.

Mindful waste

BY-PRODUCT was a group exhibition that explored how circular economy and open source knowledge-sharing can help reduce waste. Designer, makers and creators were challenged to create something from by-product waste materials from their practice. I was honoured to be a contributing artists and gave some words for the exhibition.

When Rachel Kelly first approached me about being involved, I was reading and writing an article about adopting an abundance mindset. As has happened over and again this year, I was reading the right thing at the right time and it resonated with Rach and became an important part of the exhibition’s narrative.

The highlight for me was writing the Manifesto for the exhibition – a call to arms for all creatives to be mindful of their impact on the planet and pledge to do something about it.

The materials this manifesto was printed on will be made into tote bags by E-tu and sold at the NGV store.

The BY-PRODUCT Manifesto

As a creator,
I refuse to continue working within the planet-killing parameters of pre-climate action consumerism.

I refuse to be a by-product of selfish capitalism.

I reject the scarcity mentality we’re falsely told we must adopt to get ahead.

I refuse to ignore the problems wasting our planet.

Today, I pledge to be part of the solution by:

Adopting an abundance mindset and sharing my skills, knowledge and time.
Introducing open-source principals into my work – transparency, collaboration, inclusive meritocracy and community.
Identifying the by-products of my work and reusing them or minimising their impact.
Giving back to my creative community so together we can create a global solution to design’s waste problem.
Seeing waste as an opportunity to improve processes, reuse, stoke ideas – do better.
Giving more in times of scarcity – sharing is the antidote to a divided world.
Contributing to the design community’s resilience by looking for ways to give back.