"When looking at this collection of works, it’s difficult to believe that this is Medbury’s first foray into sculptural art. Though, it should come as no surprise. Founder and Creative Director of Anemoia Studio, Medbury is a leader in the realm of sustainable design. In unveiling her sculptural debut, she reminds us of the transformative potential and new worth of items often deemed insignificant and useless – a principle intrinsically linked with Polestar’s design ethos."
POLESTAR X ANEMOIA STUDIO 2023
Three Sculptures and One Film. Experience the transformation of post-industrial waste and natural materials into captivating art.
Artist: Emily Medbury
Artist Assistant: Harry Cassell
Mechanical Engineering Consultant / Research Assistant: Renee Kenny
Film: Nice Film Co.
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Materials: Discarded Fishing Net
Ghost nets composed of plastics have been described as a “silent killer” of our oceans. They are a global destructive plastic pollution problem originating from abandoned lost and discarded fishing gear that haunt our marine life, trapping and killing species in their home as well as devastating shorelines, ecosystems, and coral reefs. Animism is an ideology within some religions and cultures where it is believed that all living and non-living things, places, and creatures are inhabited by a spirit.
The term “Animism” is derived from the Latin word “anima” meaning ‘breath, spirit, life’. This sculpture aims to represent the ‘breath’ and spirit of our oceans, the way something afloat at sea appears weightless, how something such as ghost nets can be caught in the currents, perpetually swirling in on itself, catching life in its arms. The destruction caused by ghost nets goes beyond simply the marine life it kills or coral reefs it imposes upon, the material itself being PET plastic, needs no explanation of its detrimental effects.
Showcasing the ghost net as it is exposed to heat, melting in on itself, revealing its true form, fossil fuel-based plastic that leaches harmful chemicals into our natural environment. However, to look at this through another lens, we may see an abundance of material that can be cleared from our oceans, and granted a breath of new life, a chance to be continuously remade into forms that have a practical use in the world.
Polestar proves this with Polestar 3’s carpets being made from 100% ECONYL® polyamide, derived from discarded fishing nets and other plastic waste. It is used to produce a tailored 3D-knit material made exactly to size with no-off cuts, minimising waste without compromising look and feel.
Find out more about Polestars sustainability journey here
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Materials: 400 recycled aluminium cans, recycled satellite dish
With such an abundance of a material that is naturally found on Earth, we must contemplate the way in which we utilise and dispose of it.
Despite its recyclability, the process of reclaiming aluminium is far from circular. Representative of the ‘crushed cube’, our sculpture shines a light on how recyclers currently process used cars, shredding and sorting a material for reuse, without separation of different aluminium grades, resulting in down-cycled, lower grade metals. When melting aluminium, the process separates the material from the raw metal its impurities.
Our piece sits atop a pile of impurities, that from a glance may seem as though it’s the same material. But look a little closer and see the separation of states, a distinction in material quality. Our flowing channels represent the three grades of aluminium, a sorting process that’s result is high-quality post-industrial waste.
80% of the raw material sourced for Polestar 3’s aluminium deco panels come from post-industrial waste, giving used aluminium a new life as distinctive interior components. Polestar’s electric roadster concept closes the material loop, by featuring a unibody made of clearly labelled grades of aluminium, which enables like materials to be recycled together, ready for the next application.
Find out more about Polestars sustainability journey here
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Materials: Raw Flax Fibre, Organic Flax Yarn
For over 30,000 years, flax has been utilised as a natural resource, a food source, a fibre, a material that can be spun, knotted, and bonded to create new forms.
The Butterfly Effect follows the notion that a butterfly may cause changes to the atmosphere that eventually lead to large winds in cyclones and typhoons. Initial conditions are sensitive, and a small change will lead to non-linear impacts in much greater systems.
When we turn to recognise Nature as our greatest builder, we can see the structural strength and optimal life cycle of bio-degradable and regenerative materials, materials that will provide us with a solution to typical fibre manufacturing.
First used in the Polestar Precept, these composites are now being used in Polestar 3 in the inner door and storage compartment. These ground-breaking composites made from European-grown flax produce a material that is 40% lower in weight and uses 50% less virgin plastic than the conventional alternative.
The circular process of ground to garment, plant to panel, is represented in this sculpture’s never ending closed loop cycles. Transitioning from raw fibre, spun into thread and yarn, manipulating its own form to fit the mould we make.
Find out more about Polestars sustainability journey here
Notable Achievements:
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An entrepreneurial surfer, an automotive designer, an artist and an interior designer explore the many ways in which material innovations – from carpet made from recycled fishing nets to algae-derived plastics and furniture grown from fungus – are changing our lifestyles and our interiors.
Hayden Cox | Haydenshapes Surfboards
Nahum Escobedo | Polestar Senior Design Manager
Fiona Lynch | Fiona Lynch Office
Emily Medbury | Anemoia Studio
Stephen Todd | Moderator -
Two Sculptures from the Re:Purpose Collection - ‘Anima’ and ‘The Butterfly Effect’ have been selected as finalists for the 2024 Environmental Art & Design Prize (Art Category).
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Featuring on the Design Wall of Melbourne Now - Fungi Solutions is Australia’s first commercially available myco-material manufacturer. Morgan, Cooke and Fungi Solutions creative director Emily Medbury develop their products through close consultation with local councils, businesses and communities. In 2021 they won Red Hat Impact, Melbourne Climate Future and People’s Choice awards at the Early Ethical Enterprise Awards, were named One to Watch in the Circle Awards, Australia and New Zealand, and received a grant from the Awesome Foundation, United States. Fungi Solutions aim to eventually create a network of myco-cycling facilities across Australia, eliminating the need to ship waste or create new landfill sites, and helping to establish a more sustainable and circular economy.
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Brand Activations.
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Art Installations.
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Material Alternatives.
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Sculpture Commissions.
