Jewel-Re

Out of scarcity, the historical figures of the ‘rag-picker’ and the ‘mudlark’ used materials in full, extracting value from discarded objects. Rag and bone men made glue from animal bones, turned scraps of paper and unwanted clothing rags into cardboard, and collected broken glass and metal scraps to be melted down and reused. The original Victorian mudlarks scavenged the exposed riverbed for practical items like coal, iron, copper nails and ropes which they could sell to buy food and essentials for themselves and their families.

Adopting a similar approach, this project is framed around modern-day urban scavenging. A series of walks inspired by Guy Debord and the Situationist International’s dérive, provided opportunities for our group to collect and record materials littered across London, engaging with our surroundings in new ways.

Following a trip to the Jewellery department at the V&A, our group decided on three design pathways for a piece of jewellery – weaving with plastic waste, electroplating waste materials, and 3D printing with recycled filament. We developed a tool to process plastic bottles into strips of plastic wire, experimented with electroplating natural materials, and printed samples of beaded necklaces. Bringing these elements together, our final output contemplated possibilities for a necklace made from electroplating plastic wire and food waste.