The Assemblage Union is a collection of salvaged materials that are donated in exchange for store points. This encourages reuse behavior of things like plastics that are otherwise unable to be recycled, i.e. figurines, laminated or painted objects, packaging, and so on which would just end up in the waste stream, most likely the ocean. Plastic is a major source of water pollution, and many times when an object is deemed broken or unusable, and cannot be donated as is the case with toys or games with missing pieces, these things are simply discarded. They do not biodegrade, and remain in the environment indefinitely, causing devastation to the biosphere and it’s wildlife.
The premise of the Assemblage Union as a center for steampunk art forms is a celebration of the medium known as ‘mixed media assemblage’, wherein found objects are arranged into art, decor, wearables, and even functional pieces. This is an ideal solution to the problem of plastics which cannot be recycled, but can be reused and revalued through art and design. The Union issues tax credit and store credit for such objects, which may be acquired through cleaning, dumpster diving, leftovers from art projects, packaging, freecycling, or overruns from manufacturing processes. Assigning a value to these materials encourages people to take the time to remove them from the waste stream, and collect on their reward, and making them available in bulk then facilitates entrepreneurship.
As a community fixture the Union provides workspace for entrepreneurs, meeting space, and hosts a variety of workshops and excursions. One focus of this is on material usage, where patrons can gain knowledge and inspiration on the potential applications of the found objects. Another is on the safe and legal acquisition of salvaged materials, and expeditions will be led in practices such as antiquing, ‘picking’, architectural salvage, and dumpster diving. The Rivet Fleet, which hosts a number of vendor centric steampunk events throughout Metro Detroit will be managed through the Union, where it will continue to provide affordable opportunities for local small businesses to show their wares.
In addition to physical products, the Union will also generate an array of digital goods, such as stock photos, templates, textures, and other digital materials. The evolution of this will expand into the territory of 3D scanning, and ultimately self serve printing. This will enable us to take found objects that were donated, scan them in as components, and then sell the models for use in video game design, product design, environmental rendering, animation, film, and art. There will also be a host of in house services such as digital photography, retouching, graphic design, formatting, print ordering, business resources, and rendering of 3D ecommerce environments in an initiative known as ‘The Arcade’.
The world is moving toward the ability to print objects on demand, rather than rely on manufacturing in mass quantities, and ultimately this will be a more sustainable practice. But there are so many objects already in circulation with limited life spans, that were produced without coordinating demand, or are broken and no longer useful. The Assemblage Union will serve as a transition hub, revaluing and utilizing existing objects and removing them from their trajectory in the waste stream, and then making digital technologies available to the tinkers and inventors of tomorrow. It will educate and empower the community with the skills they need to reimagine objects and their relation to us as humans, call attention to the issue of waste, and offer ways to eliminate it altogether by reassigning the hierarchy of values and popularizing salvage.
The premise of the Assemblage Union as a center for steampunk art forms is a celebration of the medium known as ‘mixed media assemblage’, wherein found objects are arranged into art, decor, wearables, and even functional pieces. This is an ideal solution to the problem of plastics which cannot be recycled, but can be reused and revalued through art and design. The Union issues tax credit and store credit for such objects, which may be acquired through cleaning, dumpster diving, leftovers from art projects, packaging, freecycling, or overruns from manufacturing processes. Assigning a value to these materials encourages people to take the time to remove them from the waste stream, and collect on their reward, and making them available in bulk then facilitates entrepreneurship.
As a community fixture the Union provides workspace for entrepreneurs, meeting space, and hosts a variety of workshops and excursions. One focus of this is on material usage, where patrons can gain knowledge and inspiration on the potential applications of the found objects. Another is on the safe and legal acquisition of salvaged materials, and expeditions will be led in practices such as antiquing, ‘picking’, architectural salvage, and dumpster diving. The Rivet Fleet, which hosts a number of vendor centric steampunk events throughout Metro Detroit will be managed through the Union, where it will continue to provide affordable opportunities for local small businesses to show their wares.
In addition to physical products, the Union will also generate an array of digital goods, such as stock photos, templates, textures, and other digital materials. The evolution of this will expand into the territory of 3D scanning, and ultimately self serve printing. This will enable us to take found objects that were donated, scan them in as components, and then sell the models for use in video game design, product design, environmental rendering, animation, film, and art. There will also be a host of in house services such as digital photography, retouching, graphic design, formatting, print ordering, business resources, and rendering of 3D ecommerce environments in an initiative known as ‘The Arcade’.
The world is moving toward the ability to print objects on demand, rather than rely on manufacturing in mass quantities, and ultimately this will be a more sustainable practice. But there are so many objects already in circulation with limited life spans, that were produced without coordinating demand, or are broken and no longer useful. The Assemblage Union will serve as a transition hub, revaluing and utilizing existing objects and removing them from their trajectory in the waste stream, and then making digital technologies available to the tinkers and inventors of tomorrow. It will educate and empower the community with the skills they need to reimagine objects and their relation to us as humans, call attention to the issue of waste, and offer ways to eliminate it altogether by reassigning the hierarchy of values and popularizing salvage.
Image by Chris Jordan from the Midway: Message from the Gyre project. http://www.chrisjordan.com
By working together on a community scale, we can turn unfortunate scenes such as this, into opportunities like this:
Mixed media assemblage masterpiece by Kris Kuksi http://kuksi.com/
Plastic is a volatile component of our human condition today, but it is one we must take accountability for and it is often the smallest pieces that prove the most dangerous. Every bit counts, please consider making a contribution via Paypal to [email protected] to see this dream become a reality! And next time you have a birthday gift to buy, consider taking a stroll through Etsy for a salvaged or creative reuse product.