GYRECRAFT Studio Swine

废物之变 -- 海洋工艺品人类的废弃物进入大海，有的不会被分解掉，比如塑料。很多垃圾随着洋流而漂浮并最终汇聚到一起，成为让人目瞪结舌的海洋垃圾带。仅是太平洋上的海洋垃圾就已达300多万平方公里，甚至超过了印度的国土面积。在太平洋上形成了一个面积有得克萨斯州那么大的以塑料为主的“海洋垃圾带”。如果不采取措施，海洋将无法负荷，而人类也将无法生存。


“Gyrecraft”是一个由工作室Swine所率领的激进设计实践，名字意取英文单词“环流”和“工艺”，希望这个海洋项目充满了灵性与艺术性。


大的塑料垃圾在洋流的激荡下被分解成为微小的碎片，这些碎片因为其尺度非常难以回收。Swine工作室收集这些垃圾，再使用他们自己发明的太阳能熔化炉将塑料重新融化，制作成为工艺品。工艺品具有大海气息，比如有的像是鲸鱼的牙齿，有的像是珊瑚。作品的名称也来自收集这些垃圾的环流区域，比如北大西洋环流，南大西洋环流。目前这些作品在伦敦Selfridges & Co展览，将于2015年8月底结束。


‘Gyrecraft’ is a new project by radical design practice, Studio Swine, in which they have transformed plastic pollution found at sea into a collection of luxury objects. The title derives from a combination of the word ‘Gyre’ (circular currents in an ocean basin where plastic pollution concentrates) and two distinct meanings of the word ‘Craft’: skill, dexterity and art – and also a vessel in which you sail.


‘Gyrecraft’ was the focus of an expedition across the North Atlantic Ocean, undertaken by Studio Swine co-founders, Alexander Groves and Azusa Murakami in the autumn of 2014. They embarked on a journey of 1000 nautical miles, collecting plastic on the way from Azores to the Canaries through the North Atlantic Gyre. In order to transform this plastic flotsam and jetsam into luxury, desirable objects, they invented and built their own Solar Extruder, which melts and extrudes sea plastic using the Sun.

In the swirling gyre, most of the plastics break down into tiny fragments that are spread over massive stretches of the ocean. Owing to their size, they are incredibly difficult to recover in any large quantity, making this once disposable material very precious. In the Gyrecraft collection, Studio Swine uses sea plastic as a valuable and desirable material reminiscent of turtle shell and corals. The five objects represent the five major ocean gyres. The aim is to use plastic in a more artisan, innovative way, which adds value to an undesirable material while drawing attention to the prevalence of a largely invisible problem throughout the world's oceans.


The project was also an exploration into maritime crafts, which utilize what the sea provides in every coastal or island culture around the world, each with its own unique identity. Traditionally, many of these crafts took place onboard during long voyages as a way of making vital repairs or simply passing the time at sea. For example, inspired by ‘Scrimshaw’ a traditional maritime craft of the Azores islands -the art of etching drawings onto whale’s teeth – Studio Swine has created a whale’s tooth made of plastic collected from the sea using the machine.Gyrecraft is the intersection of the dwindling and under-valued heritage of local maritime crafts and the rapid rise of sea plastic pollution.

The project is currently on show at Selfridges & Co in its Ultralounge gallery as part of the store's Project Ocean campaign, which is focused on entirely removing plastic bags and single-use plastic water bottles from its store. The show is on until the end of August.

The works are available for sale or commissions though London Connoisseur.











北大西洋环流
北大西洋环流附近的亚速尔群岛以捕鲸业见长，当地也有传统贝壳雕塑工艺。一个像鲸鱼牙齿的大海塑料回收创作。

North Atlantic Gyre, 2015
Sea plastic, reclaimed mahogany, rope, brass
H32cm W24cm D24cm

The North Atlantic Gyre is situated near the Azores. These islands had a major whaling industry that was driven by the global demand for whale oil in a time before the discovery of petroleum. The Azores has a long tradition of scrimshaw craft, which is a form of engraving on whale teeth. This was usually practised to relieve boredom and maintain order amongst the crew when there was neither wind nor whales.





南大西洋环流

South Atlantic Gyre, 2015
Sea plastic, gold-plated steel, brass, sand-blasted glass, brass, rope.
H19cm W17cm D20cm

The South Atlantic is renowned for treacherous storms whipping around the great capes of South America and Africa in a stretch of sea called the Roaring Forties. This vessel refers to the many Polar expeditions that cross this dangerous passage.




北太平洋环流

North Pacific Gyre, 2015
Sea plastic, green abalone shells, brass, rope, shackle.
H33cm W22cm D12cm

The first gyre was discovered by Captain Charles Moore in the North Pacific. The stretch of sea between Russia and Alaska is notorious for industrial-scale crab fishing. Studies on crabs, which inhabit the depths of the Bering Strait, have found increasing plastic particles in their respiratory systems.







南太平洋环流

South Pacific Gyre, 2015
Sea plastic, reclaimed tropical hardwood, gold-plated steel, brass, rope.
H38cm W22cm D15cm

The South Pacific has the largest expanse of water in the world. Sailors in this area can be so remote that the nearest people to them are orbiting above their heads in the International Space Station. Island communities in the South Pacific have survived and thrived entirely on the sea. As a result they have developed a distinctive vernacular style of maritime crafts with a complex gift-giving culture centred on precious materials, such as turtle shell, black pearls and tropical hardwoods.

印度洋环流

Indian Ocean Gyre, 2015
Sea plastic, wood flotsam, aluminium, mother-of-pearl, steel, brass, rope.
H25cm W28cm D18cm

The Indian Ocean has some of the heaviest shipping traffic in the world. Many cargo ships have spilled their loads in the giant waves and as many as 10,000 container crates are lost each year around the globe. This plinth envisages a new plastic craft made by the Sentinelese people of the Andaman Islands, the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world. Although isolated from the modern world, they receive the newest synthetic materials in the form of ocean plastic washed up on their shores.