"The disposable or throw-away society is a human society strongly influenced by consumerism. The term describes a critical view of overconsumption and excessive production of short-lived and disposable items."
Dispsoable society was curated by Goat Collective, held in early March of 2016. The exhibition consisted of numerous pieces of artwork spanning mulitple creative disciplines, providing a collaborative exhibition for artists from the UK and overseas. The artwork displayed consisted of sculpture, fine art, video projections, prints, paintings and woodwork, as well as photography and installation pieces. Embracing such a broad range of mediums with a variety of concepts all stemming from the idea of a disposable society clearly professes the current issue in a collaborative amalgamation of artists and designers.
Call for submissions
Re-using stacks of old billboard adverts as the base for new posters, we called out for submissions around Leeds, looking for a wide variety of artist practices exploring the topic of a disposable society. The ripped aesthetic fits with the theme of reappropriation, which we added to with white strips of text including all the key information.
Promotion for event
The disposed of materials, furniture and rubbish in our society are everywhere, a constant reminder of how our material needs and posessions are so readily excreted in to our environment. To expose this to the public, creating awareness of both the issue and our event, the date and name of the exhibition were sprayed on to thrown away items in a guerilla advertising campaign to promote the event.
Separate to this marketing strategy, we created posters for print and online use that play on the conventions of a gallery aesthetic, stereotypically clean, pure and white. Found objects from the streets of Leeds including a microwave, radio and empty bottles were sprayed white to form a collective sculpture representative of our society's disposable nature. Combined with a striking red, a colour often used within strong social and political issues, creates a sense of importance and reflects Goat Collective's branding.
Exhibition set up and curation
Ahead of the exhibition launch night, we designed and created for the space considering the selected submissions. This included partitions, wall hangings, frames and exhibition design. At the event, Jarg people, music and design collective based in Leeds provided a range of music from jazz, funk and soul to down tempo house. The exhibition ran over a week and was held and Northern Monk Refectory in Holbeck, Leeds, attracting over 300 people on the launch night, and more throughout the week.
