Jill Price

Discarded Disposables, 2017 graphite, paper, glue and foam core on metal

The book Cradle to Cradle, outlines how 90% of all manufactured goods are designed to be thrown away after only one use.On April 15^th, 2017 I began to document the shadows of materials I was throwing away while traveling abroad. Often acquiring unwanted material as a consequence of buying food or other usable goods, the data collected led to a system of drawing shadows, which aligns different grades of graphite with the decomposition rate of the materials being thrown away.For example, 4H is used to render the shadow of Kleenix tissue and 4B is used to shade in the shadows of material that will take hundreds of years to break down. The shadow drawings have also been placed on different lengths of display pins so that shadows of plastics and metals will cast larger shadows than that of paper goods.This methodical process of recording and analyzing the shadows of my refuse has led to reflection about personal habits of consumption, encouraged new ways of purchasing and increased my awareness of how much and how I throw things away.

The Gift Shop, 2017

Shadows of different designs of mass produced textiles sold in museum gift shops are projected onto the wall. The commodification of shadows aims to draw attention to the ideological institutions of capitalism and consumerism that first took hold with the industrial revolution.  (McDonough and Braungart 2002, 18,19) as well as points to how experiences are commodified through the mass production of branded goods that turn humans into profitable and moving marketing devices.  Motion-sensored, the gift shop always manages to produce more material for consumption upon the arrival of new audiences.

Tightly Stitched, 2016 – (in progress)

Adapted from Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck’s artwork Closely Knit, 1968, Tightly Stitched is constructed from white baby onesies collected from local sally-anns. Manufactured in India, Korea, China, Bangladesh, Turkey, and England, I re-constructed these assemblages of material to physically communicate how interconnected different environments have become due to increased global demand for goods and international trade. Due to their figurative reference, the work also points to how humans are altering the very ecological systems that sustain us.  Knowing these objects crossed oceans for their distribution, I read their physical transformation as dead coral, the first sign an ecological system is in danger.

Displaced Shadows, 2017 (3 of 16) ink, paper, Plexiglas

With each new location I encountered during an international term of study I acquired more materials. Needing to prioritize belongings, these drawings are the result of recording the shadows of clothing I sent home or left behind on my journey.  Traced from different angles in the room, the process produced shadows of different intensities and scale, at times overlapping with one another.  This method of drawing reminded me of how needs and wants are dependent on one's context and constantly in a state of transformation. Folded based on the different intensity of shadows, the 3d forms visualize how the extraction or displacement of materials also alters the geographical topography of our landscapes, leaving internal shadows within the concave spaces of mines or pits. Placed inside reclaimed PPlexiglas vitrines, the cast shadows communicate how the packaging of materials dramatically extends the environmental footprint of both organic and non-organic goods.

(Left to Right)

Displaced Material Shadow #04272017, 2017
Cotton, linen and polyester tunic, ink and graphite on paper in Plexiglass

Displaced Material Shadow #05272017, 2017 Cotton and nylon ankle socks, ink and graphite on paper in Plexiglass

Displaced Material Shadow, #04272017, 2017
Rayon and spandex long sleeve shirt, ink and graphite on paper in Plexiglass

Material Shadows are a series of drawings that record the shadows beneath textiles.  Different fabrics produced different shadows based on their material content, which worked to tell me about their water absorption and decomposition rate.  Impressions within the paper were then used to guide the shading in of shadows as a way of acknowledging how all materials, have agency within the assemblage of a shadow.  Double impressions of fabric revealed anthropogenic formations, pointing to how all material, whether plastic or toxic, will eventually become part of the human make-up.  When working with materials like fur, it became clear how materials also contain or cast psychological shadows due to the violence interwoven into their social and ecological histories.

Earth Shadow #025, 2017
15 lbs of recycled textiles, 750 litres of water, 990 hours of electricity, 3 freezers, 5 tanks of gas, 8 rolls of plaster of paris, 14 days of labour….

Each year each Canadian throws away on average 15 lbs of textiles.  The average American is reported to discard anywhere from 63 to 85 lbs of fabric goods annually, with 85% of this heading directly to landfills. Earth Shadow #25 is a paper sculpture made from recycled household textiles and miscellaneous fabric scraps. For two months I worked to cut, beat, and freeze 15 lbs of fabric pulp to cast a large crack in the earth that I drive by each day on my way to Toronto.   Beyond using the crack as signifier for the amount of water used in the production of textiles, this work demonstrates the amount of natural resources and energy required in recycling processes and also points to how we only ever see 5% of the materials required in the manufacturing of a product.
(Cradle to Cradle, 2002)

Dark Threads, 2017 

On April 24^th, 2013, the Rana Plaza located in the Dhaka district of Bangladesh collapsed leaving 1129 textile workers dead and causing 2500 other non-fatal injuries.Only one of many non-legislated textile factories in developing countries utilized by industrialized countries to increase their economic profits, much of the clothing sold in chain stores today emerges from dark areas of the world where concerns for humanity and the environment are of no concern.Embroidering the shadows within photos taken of the Rana Plaza collapse, this work set out to re-memorialize the day as a moment where we were all forced to acknowledge how interlaced our material wealth is with the fiscal inequity of others and investigate the shadows of material goods.

Black Strata, 2017
reclaimed leather pants and metal clothes hangers

Under the right conditions, chemically cured and dyed leather takes 50 years to decompose.Trying to imagine what a real shadow might look like, two strips of leather in the shape of a leather watch band were dipped in an ink bath 50 times and printed on paper.  Each print represents one year of time that the shadow of leather persists.  Like the chemical dyes that seep within our landfills, at times the ink would bleed out beyond the leather's original perimeters. The paper prints were then used as templates to cut out 50 layers of black leather, speaking to how the shadows of materials are cast much longer than their intended design within the geological strata of our landfills.

Collected Shadows, 2017 (Material Shadows #71 – #150)
brochures, booklets, invitation, pamphlets, maps, guides, programs, ink & gesso

While traveling to important sites of the early Renaissance textile trade in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium and England, I collected many paper documents to assist with research and serve as records for my activity abroad.  As the printed materials began to add weight and shadow one another’s existence within my luggage, I began to reflect on the environmental impact of tourism, international trade and international art shows such as the numerous Biennale’s popping up all over the world.  I also began to consider what perspectives were informing these texts or how my own positioning within the research might be casting shadows on how materials were collected or left behind.

Sewing Seeds, 2017 (1965 of 17,520 stitches)

In 2014 it was estimated that every 30 minutes a farmer in India commits suicide.  Many of these farmers are affiliated with the “brute” production of cotton, an area of agriculture monopolized by seed companies such as Monsanto.  The genetically modified cotton seeds require the intense use and reuse of pesticides, also sold by seed companies.  With time, pesticides begin to contaminate the soil, decreasing the rate at which the cotton grows, eventually finding their way into the blood streams of the farmers.  These chemicals also seep into local water sources, spreading sickness to all in proximity, often in the form of Cancer.  Ironically, multinational corporations such as Monsanto also sell medications required for Cancer treatment. As the sickness  spreads across the land and its populations, crop production decreases and family debt continues to grow.  As a result, family farms are lost as part of the debt collection by these industrial conglomerates.  Out of shame and despair, it is not uncommon for farmers to drink their remaining pesticides in order to end their life.  Sewing Seeds is an intimate work in progress that aims to stitch a stitch for the estimated 17,520 lives lost in India each year. Embroidered into a napkin, the textile work infers how we end up ingesting both the physical and psychological shadows of industrialization archived within the earth’s surface. (The True Cost, Morgan, 2014)