INorganic : Full Circle – art installation ** 10 Jan – 9 Feb 2014 ** ONCA, Brighton
Are you snowed under with waste..?
Beauty can be found in unexpected places; something that’s been rejected, for example. By reinventing unwanted ephemera from our lives we can give the things we throw away a new lease of life.
‘Full Circle’ is a playful and immersive art installation created for the ONCA Gallery by Artist Beccy McCray. It simulates a human snow globe and a super-sized snowball, both of which consist of tens of thousands of ‘hole punches’ (the tiny, circular pieces of paper collected by hole punchers which are usually discarded). The installation is a reflection on consumption and the huge amount of waste generated over the festive season – and the impact this has on our environment.
To provoke a sense of shared responsibility many of the hole punches will be made from used, unrecyclable wrapping paper, Christmas cards, and waste paper sourced from within the community. This is where you can become a part of the artwork.
ONCA are asking local companies to empty out their hole punchers and collect for us as many punches as possible during December and January.
They also want local people to donate their used wrapping paper and old Christmas cards which you can turn into ‘snow’ at the gallery.
The participatory aspect of the artwork aims to promote feelings of self-expressivity and excitement to sustainability and resourcefulness instead of waste.
Alongside this, throughout December you can visit ‘punch points’ at various local organisations and cafes; where you can have a cup of tea, read the paper, and make hole punches at the same time. They will also hold participatory ‘punch party’ workshops in the gallery during the consumer-frenzied month of January.
After the exhibition all of the hole punches that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill will be given back to the local community and re-packaged for arts and craft use; bringing the project and the lifecycle of the paper full circle, and allowing the project to continue evolving.
Beccy McCray explores playful, socially engaged art and design using a multi-disciplinary approach in whatever realm necessary to create imaginative acts of resistance and more human moments in the world. Elevating the everyday and the things that really matter, she aims to break down boundaries between art, activism and everyday life. Her practice ultimately aims to spread a little joy and inspire positive change at a grass roots level, using creativity to communicate environmental and social ideals that go hand in hand.
The whole process will be documented online.
If you would like to participate or find out more, visit http://onca.org.uk/fullcircle/
Sussex ArtBeat 
