CREATIVE's BLOK: Trashion Tribe “The Elements Collection”

Story

Humanity wakes up from a shut down to find all its technology has collapsed. No more sucking the rivers or drilling the earth, no more Instagram or World Wide Web. No machines are working and all that is left is what has been previously produced, like the waste now floating in the oceans or a pair of rusty scissors.
This is the point when everyone starts scavenging for rubbish as if it was gold and craft makers become respected again. New tribes emerge living and travelling on floating plastic isles through rivers and oceans, trading and sharing information.
This collection was created by one of these, the Trashion Tribe.

Theme

“We are now so numerous, so all-pervasive, so profit-oriented, the mechanisms we have for destruction are so powerful and so frightening that we can exterminate whole ecosystems without even noticing it.”
– David Attenborough

In a short time frame, Humans have created such an unbalanced and unsustainable lifestyle that is fast approaching a moment of no return in the process of their own extinction. It seems no other wake up call will work until it rings the catastrophe alarm during the collapse.
Because the majority of humans have disconnected from nature, they don’t recognize it as part of themselves anymore and are therefore unable to stop injuring it and themselves at the same time.
This project aims to awaken in people the consciousness about the material waste produced and also the need to embrace change about it.

Concepts

“Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.”
In Wikipedia
“Reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.”
In Oxford Dictionaries
“Trashion (a portmanteau of “trash” and “fashion”) is a term for art, jewelry, fashion and objects for the home created from used, thrown-out, found and repurposed elements. The term was first coined in New Zealand in 2004 and gained in usage through 2005.
Trashion is a philosophy and an ethic encompassing environmentalism and innovation. Making traditional objects out of recycled materials can be trashion, as can making avant-garde fashion from cast-offs or junk. It springs from a desire to make the best use of limited resources. Like upcycling, trashion generates items that are valued again.
The environmental aim of trashion is to call attention to the polluting outcome of waste.”
In Wikipedia

The Elements

The creations for this photoshoot were conceived around the Five Elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire & Love. Following the inspiration of each element characteristics, a series of combinations were developed by experimenting with materials, colors, and techniques such as collages, melting plastic and painting.

The shooting consisted of 5 phases:

Perplexion
Fight
Fall
Hope
Love

This required a diverse and challenging work with attitudes, facial expressions, moods, and poses.

The Sources

For this project, materials were sourced in the Aveiro region, Portugal. Mainly originated from household waste and a yarn store in Águeda, IS Moda, that kindly kept clear bags for weeks! Some previously collected vinyl from Facting, a local print company was also included in the designs.

The Process

This collection was developed from January to May 2019.
The process included collecting, cleaning and transforming every bit of material used. Most all material used in this specific series is plastic, in all its forms and shapes. The techniques used included a lot of collages, painting and a few experiments like melting plastic layers.

The Designer

Ds WAY is Diana Matoso. Born 💜ivist & designer. Visual explorer since analog times, I’m in constant REcreation of my own attitudes, expressing them through mixed media poems and visual crafts.
My work is a visual collage of both analog and digital pieces, [re]crafted, [re]played, [re]mixed and [re]used but never quite the same.

Design Credits

Every project is a collaboration and for this, I’m ever so thankful to:
Alzira Matoso – grandmother, for never throwing away a thing and keeping bags & used materials; Angela Lavoura – for lending the mannequin; Ana Gomes – for cleaning after my mess; Diogo Lucas – for creativity; Cátia Jesus – for materials; Cláudia Afonso – [@alquimaria] for materials; IS Moda – [@ismoda.las / ismoda.pt] for materials; Facting – [@facting] for materials.

Photoshoot Credits

Photographer
Fernando Matoso [@fernandomatosophotography / fernandomatoso.com]
Fashion Stylist
Diana Matoso [@dsway2 / dsway.org]
Models
Donna Boyer [@donnamarieboyer]
Stella Boutcher [@stella.boutcher]
Destiny Quest Stewart
Jamiyla Rose
Oscar Sequeira
Model’s Directing
Olia Sequeira [@Oliasequeira]
Hair Stylist
Luanna Babbi [@luanab.hair]
Makeup Stylist
Jacob Bottomley [@Makeupjake95]
Nails Stylist
Shiene Mann [@shiene_mann_beauty]
Date: 16th June 2019
Location: Holborn Studios, 49/50 Eagle Wharf Road, N1 7ED London
A Big thank you to Freelancer Club London [@TheFreelancerClub / freelancerclub.net] and Holborn Studios [@holbornstudios / holbornstudios.com] for all the support.