Closed Exhibition - What is Luxury?
What is Luxury? - Object in Focus: The Rise of the Plasticsmith
The Rise of the Plasticsmith, Gangjian Cui, 2014, plastic. © Gangjian Cui
Plastics, commonly derived from petrochemicals, are used widely today across many types of objects and industries. The Rise of the Plasticsmith imagines a situation in 2052 in which, due to the depletion of global petroleum resources, plastic has become an increasingly limited material. Prompted by his own family history, designer Gangjian Cui looks to his hometown Daqing in Northern China, currently a large centre of plastic production, and its post-industrial future. He suggests how new skills will have to be developed for working with this now rare material, and has produced some pieces of furniture using a hand-operated extrusion machine. These highly crafted objects raise questions about value and our criteria for luxury materials and products.
The Rise of the Plasticsmith
In this film Plasticsmith's Chao Chen and Simin Qiu take us through the process of constructing furniture using a hand-operated extrusion machine.
This film has no sound
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Northacre, the noble force in landmark residential development, has been at the forefront of the revival and development of buildings of historical significance and stature for over 25 years. Northacre’s reputation is built on its intrinsic understanding of luxury combined with a passionate attention to detail and working with the finest craftsmen, values that chime with the content of What is Luxury?
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