DISPOSABLE: Reimagining your waste

Science Gallery Melbourne’s 2019 season opens with a four-week program of art-science events and installations focused on finding creative ways to tackle our ever growing culture of excess and waste.

DISPOSABLE is Science Gallery Melbourne’s third season following BLOOD in 2017 and PERFECTION in 2018.  Part of the award-winning international network of galleries dedicated to igniting creativity in young people through the collision of art and science, Science Gallery Melbourne’s purpose-built exhibition space will be launched in 2020 at the University of Melbourne’s new innovation precinct, Melbourne Connect.

The 2019 DISPOSABLE program includes: 

At MacFarland Court, The University of Melbourne from 1 to 18 August

• Urinotron, a large-scale installation by French artists Gaspard and Sandra Bébié-Valérian and University of Melbourne academic Professor Peter Scales that takes organic waste (urine) and transforms it into a sustainable power source for electronic devices, before recycling it back to pure water.
• Plastivore by US artist and writer Oliver Kellhammer, which uses mealworms to break down the plastic in styrofoam and turn it into compost.
• P@tch by new New York media artist Janna Ahrndt, a textile-based new media project which allows the user to track their personal and surrounding air pollution. Participants can set a goal and track their progress in real time.

Testing Grounds, Southbank, from 31 July to 15 August

• Fatberg is an attempt by artists Arne Hendriks and Mike Thompson to create the largest ever Australian fat deposit. Typically caused when oils and fats are tipped down drains and then congeal with other products and solidify in sewer pipes, Fatbergs are catastrophic to our drains – the largest was found in London and measured 64 metres!
• Sewer Soaperie, by Chinese-Filipina interdisciplinary artist Catherine Sarah Young, which takes grease from various sources, sterilises them and turns them into luxury soap.

Footscray Community Arts Centre, from 31 July to 31 August

• Eel Trap, a newly commissioned artwork by revered multidisciplinary artist, Mutti Mutti, Wemba Wemba, Boonwurrung woman Maree Clarke, and emerging Boonwurrung artist Mitch Mahoney in partnership with Footscray Community Art Centre.  A ten-metre installation made of biodegradable materials on the Maribyrnong River, inspired by traditional Aboriginal eel traps and made of river reeds from the local area, the installation is an example of how we might use Indigenous knowledge, science and art to continue our fight towards a sustainable future.

Yarra River, Southbank from 28 August to 1 September

• Trash Robot, a remote-controlled garbage collector developed originally to remove trash from the Chicago River, which will be trawling along the Yarra River.  Controlled via a website similar to a video game, the robot was created by Chicago based collective Urban Rivers, and will be trawling Melbourne’s Yarra collecting rubbish outside of the city’s existing litter traps.

Treasury Gardens, from 22 August to 1 September

• Pollution Pods, a large-scale immersive installation by UK artist Michael Pinksy which simulates the air environments of some of the world’s most pristine and polluted cities.  The journey begins with the pristine air of the remote Norwegian island Tautra, and then continues through to the more polluted environments of London, New Delhi and Beijing (but minus the actual ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide). Presented in partnership with White Night.

DISPOSABLE runs 1 Aug – 1 Sep, 2019 in various locations throughout Melbourne.

Further details and information on associated events is available at melbourne.sciencegallery.com