The future I envisioned as a teenager, was filled with new technologies and unknown exotic materials. Carbon negative production methods, compostable polymers and batteries that would last forever. While there are many advances in these fields, we also see a sharp downward trend in the availability of 'classic' resources. A century ago, most artists would have had access to materials that are now insanely expensive, illegal to possess, or in some cases have gone extinct. Even basic materials like paper and wood are becoming scarce. However, there are resources we have in abundance; most of us just don't consider them very useful.

An average person on this planet generates 0.74 kg of waste every day. A fair amount of this waste is recycled or even reused, but rarely is it incorporated into the creative process. It is still considered unworthy to use waste for artistic purposes. The perception is that the value of the material reflects onto the value of the art, and as a result we sometimes see artists using precious resources to make complete rubbish. Meanwhile we throw away single use articles that are made from perfectly good materials. I encourage you to look at what is made in schools and learn from those kids, because waste is what you have, when you run out of imagination.