Lucie Libotte earned her BA in Textile Design from Central St. Martins, London and her current practice focuses on the fundamental origins of materials. She’s challenging conventions with a number of projects that experiment with the visual effects different materials bring to their visual environments. For her latest project, Libotte utilizes common dust as a glaze for ceramic works. What follows is her statement for Dust Matter(s), a winning project in the UK Design Council’s Ones to Watch series. Click on the photographs to see a larger image.
House dust is commonly perceived as dirty, intrusive and repulsive. We know it as fine grey dry powder consisting of tiny particles and waste matter collecting on surfaces or carried in the air. It is often associated with unkempt and neglected environments, where as a clean environment is considered as civilized and proper.
‘Dust matters’ aims is to re-evaluate this ‘dirt’, and convey the value of dust as an indicator of our environment, showing how it reflects our daily life and traces our journey through the world.
Focusing on the individual’s private sphere as the research arena, I have collected samples of dust from various homes, observing and analysing the different inherent components. The physical value of those components was discovered to be substantial.
This value is brought to life with as an unusual coating layer on ceramic objects. Using “dust matter” technique, I created a range of bespoke vessels that display the different sampled environments, and ultimately tell a story of their origin location.
Lucie Libotte is an artist and designer based in London.
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