Niklavs Rubenis makes everything old nice and new again
Niklavs Rubenis is on a mission. As a local designer-maker, he’s inspired to create, but he’s also alarmed about the idea of creating more ‘stuff’.
‘We can’t deny that the world is rapidly consuming itself,’ says Rubenis. ‘As a designer, I find it difficult to reconcile why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m trying to work in a more responsible and aware manner because there’s already too much “stuff” in the world.’
This line of thinking is why Rubenis has decided to turn design on its head, including with the work he is showcasing in the Crafting Waste exhibition now on at Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre.
Rubenis is still creating beautiful pieces but starting at the end and working in reverse. He uses what exists, including domestic waste, and adapts, re-uses and re-appropriates it to add new value and meaning. And so Crafting Waste includes functional lighting Rubenis has designed and made out of discarded plastic milk bottles and tins, which he collects while travelling about in his well-used ute. And he transforms other objects he finds, like an old rusted metal bench frame, into a cool, contemporary item that commands attention. The end result is intriguing and worth seeing.
Crafting Waste also features two ottomans made of fabric grocery bags, clothing and mittens, all solidified together using rope. The fabric items were too worn out to even be donated to charity. Rubenis has saved them from ending up in landfill.
Waste is a world-wide issue, and Canberra is not immune. Incredible as it may seem, we each generated a whopping 2.67 tonnes of waste in 2014–15 alone—that’s well over 900 000 tonnes of waste for the capital in one financial year. If we don’t change our behaviour, our landfill will burst at the seams, creating a very expensive problem to fix.
‘Rubenis is part of a new wave of practitioners in Australia using craft to make strong statements on contemporary issues,’ says Rachael Coghlan, who brings more than 20 years’ experience working in national cultural institutions to her new role as Craft ACT’s new Chief Executive Officer. ‘Australia’s cotemporary craft culture is transforming. The artists are using their craft to tell stories and get us talking about the world we want to live in.’
This is certainly the case with Rubenis. ‘I’m driven by design, but am more interested in the broad impact it has on the world,’ says the designer-maker. ‘The ways that existed in the 19th century and 20th century no longer apply. We need new ways of working, thinking and interacting with the world.’
Also on at Craft ACT is Aesthetics in the Time of Emergency, a new body of work by five Melbourne glass-based artists who have each created a unique work around environmental issues needing our attention, such as climate change and nuclear disasters.
Both exhibitions run from 27 May to 9 July. It’s free to the public. www.craftact.org.au
Find Niklavs Rubenis on Instagram