Shit Happens! Louise Mackenzie in collaboration with Overlay Press at Vital Signs, Science Gallery London. November 2024. Image: L Mackenzie
Shit Happens!
Audio (55m) and compostable zine
There is a growing divide between consumer culture and the bio-economy. Perhaps the problem lies in things that we can’t, or don’t want to, see. Since we first understood microbes as transmitters of disease, we have increasingly distanced ourselves from the handling of bodily substances.
Shit Happens! is a collaborative project that asks why, when today our understanding of the importance of microbes is so much greater, we are still so reluctant to embrace their relationship to bodily functions.
Shit Happens! explores perceptions of human waste and considers advantages and barriers to sustainable human waste disposal in urban settings. Diverse views are gathered through interviews and workshops with public audiences, industry professionals and academics. The first output from this project was a prototype zine shown at Newcastle's experimental biotechnological domestically house, the OME, as part of the research of the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment at both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities. The second output, shown at the Vital Signs exhibition in Science Gallery London, is an audio installation designed for public toilets and a compostable toilet-paper zine made from handmade recycled wastepaper and natural ink derived from spirulina.
Shit Happens! has been presented at:
The OME, Newcastle University, 2023
Developed in collaboration with East Street Arts in Leeds, the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) at both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, The NewBridge Project in Newcastle and Kings College London. Content for the zine and audio was gathered through interviews and workshops held with artists, scientists, designers, services users and experts in the field of waste across Leeds, Newcastle and London. The zine was created in collaboration with Overlay Press, Newcastle.
Links:
Shit Happens! Louise Mackenzie in collaboration with Overlay Press at Vital Signs, Science Gallery London. November 2024. Image: George Torode