L.D.P.E Quilt, 2022
Artscape Girbaltar Point
L.D.P.E. (Lovely, Dreamy, Plastic Experience) Quilt is an exploration in slow-making an inflated space. The installation is a plastic assemblage pieced together from reclaimed plastic sheeting and 152 plastic bags from the Toronto Island community.
Studio Rat was awarded a spot in Artscape Gibraltar Point’s 2022 Winter Island Artist in Residency Program.
Photography by Nik Arthur.
Artscape Girbaltar Point
L.D.P.E. (Lovely, Dreamy, Plastic Experience) Quilt is an exploration in slow-making an inflated space. The installation is a plastic assemblage pieced together from reclaimed plastic sheeting and 152 plastic bags from the Toronto Island community.
Studio Rat was awarded a spot in Artscape Gibraltar Point’s 2022 Winter Island Artist in Residency Program.
Photography by Nik Arthur.
Wards Island
Toronto, ON
By quilting with plastic scraps and an industrial heat sealer in place of fabric the artists translate historic practices of “making-do” to our current place and time - with climate collapse looming on the horizon. L.D.P.E Quilt is a soft-space sculpted from plastic and air that playfully holds community whilst opposing the typical organisation of our built environment. Similar to a quilt, this work showcases the imprint of those whose hands these bags have passed through. This is amplified through the time and attention spent to saving, storing, crafting, seaming, and patching this material together, emerging as an unexpectedly intimate portrait of consumer habits and domestic life.
Made with 152 low density polyethylene plastic bags (LDPE) and reclaimed LDPE plastic sheeting, tape, air. 20’ x 20’
Toronto, ON
By quilting with plastic scraps and an industrial heat sealer in place of fabric the artists translate historic practices of “making-do” to our current place and time - with climate collapse looming on the horizon. L.D.P.E Quilt is a soft-space sculpted from plastic and air that playfully holds community whilst opposing the typical organisation of our built environment. Similar to a quilt, this work showcases the imprint of those whose hands these bags have passed through. This is amplified through the time and attention spent to saving, storing, crafting, seaming, and patching this material together, emerging as an unexpectedly intimate portrait of consumer habits and domestic life.
Made with 152 low density polyethylene plastic bags (LDPE) and reclaimed LDPE plastic sheeting, tape, air. 20’ x 20’
Making-with Plastic, 2021
Studio Rat is midway through a year-long plastic reuse project ‘Making-with Plastic’. This making-based research project is supported by a grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts. Making-with Plastic began in response to Studio Rat’s unique and complicated relation to plastic. We have teamed up with 7 artists across Canada to reimagine ways of making and crafting with accumulated plastic. The project will conclude in an exhibition and open-source publication.
Studio Rat is midway through a year-long plastic reuse project ‘Making-with Plastic’. This making-based research project is supported by a grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts. Making-with Plastic began in response to Studio Rat’s unique and complicated relation to plastic. We have teamed up with 7 artists across Canada to reimagine ways of making and crafting with accumulated plastic. The project will conclude in an exhibition and open-source publication.
Toronto, ON
Montréal, QC
Studio Rat acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in making this project a reality.
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Montréal, QC
Studio Rat acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts in making this project a reality.
Community Microplastic Survey, 2022
Artscape Gibraltar Point
To conclude our March 2022 Winter Island Residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, Studio Rat invited the public to join us in a community micro-plastic survey of the Toronto Island beaches as a means to reconcile with the irreversible binding of plastic with landscape and everyday experience.
We followed survey protocol established by CLEAR Labs.
Photography by Nik Arthur.
Artscape Gibraltar Point
To conclude our March 2022 Winter Island Residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, Studio Rat invited the public to join us in a community micro-plastic survey of the Toronto Island beaches as a means to reconcile with the irreversible binding of plastic with landscape and everyday experience.
We followed survey protocol established by CLEAR Labs.
Photography by Nik Arthur.
Wards Island
Toronto, ON
Toronto, ON
Assembly, 2019
MONEYPHONE
Studio Rat designed and fabricated a series of inflated sets as part of MONEYPHONE’s 4-part video series ‘Assembly’. This project marked our first cross-disciplinary collaboration, in which our creative process blended with that of videographers, photographers, and musicians.
Videos directed by Kostadin Kolev, NOSCHT Studios.
Photography by Curtiss Randolph and Nik Arthur.
Creative direction by Studio Rat, Enoch Ncube, and David May.
MONEYPHONE
Studio Rat designed and fabricated a series of inflated sets as part of MONEYPHONE’s 4-part video series ‘Assembly’. This project marked our first cross-disciplinary collaboration, in which our creative process blended with that of videographers, photographers, and musicians.
Videos directed by Kostadin Kolev, NOSCHT Studios.
Photography by Curtiss Randolph and Nik Arthur.
Creative direction by Studio Rat, Enoch Ncube, and David May.
Toronto and Kitchener, ON
As the name suggests, Assembly was a project based on the mixing of contradictory music genres, and stylings. Following this theme, Studio Rat fabricated a variety of inflatables that became the common stylistic thread throughout the series, as they incited interaction from the artists in each video. This project was an opportunity to experiment with different pneumatic compositions and materials including various colours of LDPE sheeting and mylar. Each video presented its own challenges, textures, transparency and beauty.
As the name suggests, Assembly was a project based on the mixing of contradictory music genres, and stylings. Following this theme, Studio Rat fabricated a variety of inflatables that became the common stylistic thread throughout the series, as they incited interaction from the artists in each video. This project was an opportunity to experiment with different pneumatic compositions and materials including various colours of LDPE sheeting and mylar. Each video presented its own challenges, textures, transparency and beauty.
