_s p a c e s_c o l l i d e brings together the work of Jenny Du, Jessica McDermid and Charlotte Richardson to provide a platform for materials and objects which are often overlooked. Each artist investigates seemingly throwaway items, and aims at challenging their perceived value. Jenny attempts to reinvent common objects she’s collected from her childhood through to her adult years. Jessica imbues new life to outdated and abandoned technologies, reincarnating them from products of utility to objects of adornment. Charlotte has collected discarded materials from the streets of Marrickville to represent the essence of the Inner West suburb.

I like stuff - Jenny Du

Ever since she was a child, Jenny would collect various different things; often these things would sit forgotten in a drawer waiting to be thrown out. As she grew older,Jenny became more and more attached to her collection of things, not wanting to throw them out, but also coming to the realisation she would probably never use them for their intended purpose. So she started cutting, gluing and pinning things together creating wearable 3D collages for the human body!

Techneletons - Jessica McDermid

(technological-skeletons)

It once was prime, a pinnacle of its time

The speed of an athlete, a marvel of its mind

Shiny, with newness. Sleek. Slim. Light.

Powerful. Amazing. Clever. Bright.

But as all things obey the rules of time

That trickling sand is tock-ticking slowly by

To the beating, measured moments of the metronome

Which changes, quickens pace, ‘til it has suddenly flown

And in that moment, another is born

Making the first seem outdated and suddenly worn

It takes over, grows stronger, is so desired

The first, forgotten, discarded, so overtired

And so, the old wander, on city streets

Left in dumps, thrown in bins, tossed in rubbish heaps

Until all that is left is skeleton and bone,

Gathering dust, starting to rust, joints creak, hinges groan

The corpses lie still, cold to the touch

In a steel blue graveyard, that is used far too much

And there they are broken, parts ripped, bodies torn

But in that same process, their souls are reborn

Organs harvested, Spines bent, bones pulled from sinew

Slowly they take shape to form something a new

Something with purpose, with beauty, begins to unfurl

These new techno-skeletons in my imagined world…

Techneletons explores the new life that has been breathed into old, outdated, and discarded technology sourced from IT recycling stations. The pieces of jewellery reference skeletons and bodies, and are juxtaposed with the wearer’s own body. Made from a mixture of CPUs, laptops and computer keyboards, the wearer is forced to look upon these pieces and be reminded of the wasteful consumption of society that discards technology at an alarming rate as items are proved to be constantly surpassed. Technology becomes faster, smarter, thinner, ergonomic, powerful, longer lasting – the list goes on. But as each item comes on the market, our need to consume the latest and best that there is, encourages us to discard what we already have even if it is still functioning. There is little thought to what happens to these products after, and so Jessica desires to explore an imaginary world where technology has been reborn, and has been given a second chance at life, not as an item of practicality nor necessity, but rather as a desirable item, of beauty and adornment.

The Ville - Charlotte Richardson

As one of Sydney’s last inner city industrial zones, Marrickville has been a hot topic for developers and the government. Inits current state, The Ville is a bustling mix of warehouses, breweries, studios and live venues – it has an irreplaceable atmosphere. For the series,Charlotte has used materials found while passing through to capture the beauty in the suburb’s current state. #marrickvillenotmirvacville

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