Data Sculpture: 100% Cotton

Concept

For my data sculpture, I wanted to illustrate the environmental impact of clothing. I want to educate people on the impact clothing has on the environment, so that they realise that although clothes are often very cheap, they are valuable because they use large amounts of natural resources and impact on the lives of the farmer and developers.

Object

The object for this project was an old top that I don’t wear anymore.

Data Trends

To begin with I did a lot of research about the impact of clothing on the environment and was quite horrified by the results I found. This also lead me to investigate recycled clothing and wastefulness in Australia.

In the end I decide to focus on one specific element of the top to allow deeper exploration. I chose to look at its fibre content.

Facts

1. The top is 100% cotton (according to the label)

2. It ways exactly 100g (according to my kitchen scales)

3. 2, 600 L of water was used just to grow that much cotton
(based the on Report By Textile Reuse and Recycling Players on the Status of the ... information that it takes 26,000 L of water to grow a kilo of cotton)

4. 1 kg of pesticides were used

5. Use of pesticeide craete on average 20 000 deaths per year

6. The Aral Sea has decreased by 60% in the last 40 years, with cotton cultivation being sited as the main reason

click on image to view original source

Design Process

For this assignmnet the process was one of experimentaion. I did a lot of little sketchs to think about differnet ideas of how to convey these facts .

I also used some spare material and played around with differnt techniques on the sewing machine, and continued sketching. I found it helped to be physically engaged.

I also unpicked the stiching of my top and played around with the differnt physical elements of it, and i found this even more useful again.

Design Rationale & Final Data Sculpture

My final design for my data sculpture consists of several smaller parts coming together to create a larger picture. It is intended to be interactive, and a process of discovery. For this reason I considered not just how to represent each characteristic, but also how they interact and create a sense of narrative.

The first element the users sees is the two spheres of different sizes. These have been filled with different amounts of flour to convey weight. The smaller one, weights 100g, the weight if the singlet, and the larger weights 1kg, the weight of the pesticide used to grow 100g of cotton. Both are labelled as such, including the quantities. I used spheres to allow the user to hold them in their hands and focus on the comparison of weights, and because of the similarity in shape, the user knows they are related. These can then be put aside, as can the cones that they are sitting in which act as a divider between the spheres and the next layer.

Once removed a cup with gathered lines radiating out from the centre is revealed. As the label in the middle states, this shows the amount of water needed to grow 100g of cotton. Each line of gathering represents 100 L, and the total quantity is displayed in the middle. I chose to use gathering because it is invocative of water, this is furthered by placing this on the inside of a cup shape.

The next layer show the depletion of the Aral Sea. The white line shows the shoreline prior to 1960, while the black shows where the shoreline was in 2004. I did this by tracing image on back and then sewing in different threads. This layer is directly after the last because I wanted to show a cause and effect link. Again I use the cup shape to convey water, or rather lack of water.

The final characteristic also defining the space of the sculputre. It shows the average number of deaths from pesticides per year by representing 50 people with a snip n the material. I decided to represent them this way because I wanted to show a lack of something instead of having something. The are missing from the fabric. I would have like to do one per person to really overwhelm the viewer with the quantity if deaths, but could not do this in the space restrictions.I have put this fact last because I wanted the final impression to be the correlation between the heading, 100% cotton singlet, and the fact that it causes deaths.

The overall aesthetics of my data sculpture are meant to be reminiscent if the cotton plant itself. I have stuck to a natural colour scheme, and used organic lines with untucked seams to make it appear as a plant or other natural element.