On 23 and 23 June 2024 in the Planet Positive tent at First Light Festival, Messums Creative & artist Julia Lohmann offered free drop-in workshops where they shared their passion for making, science, algae and the environment, demonstrating the materials and fabrication techniques for her seaweed sculptures and the philosophies that can be brought into practice around materials with different use requirements. In the presence of her giant ‘Sea Creature’ constructed entirely from seaweed and wood, participants learnt how they themselves can work with seaweed. They were shown how to make their own seaweed brooch, which they could take away with them at the end of the session.
These workshops exemplify the ethos of M E S S U M S CREATIVE where the guiding principle is the belief in art as language and in the activation of making as meaning. Emphasis is placed on the distinct role of art within a community and the activation of this relationship by seeking new ways to engage. The act of physical making was central to the agenda with visitors being able to enjoy the experience of the materials and processes embraced by artists and gain from the rewards creativity can provide.
Saturday:
Drop in workshops with artist Julia Lohmann to explore her unique practice with seaweed
Sunday:
10:00 – 12:00 Drop in workshops with Julia Lohmann to explore her unique practice with seaweed
12.30 – 13.30 Laurence Edwards ‘Old Knowledge New Ideas’
14:00 – 16:00 Drop in workshops with Julia Lohmann to explore her unique practice with seaweed
About Julia Lohmann:
German-born artist, designer and researcher Julia Lohmann (b. Hildesheim, 1977) investigates and critiques the ethical and material value systems underpinning our relationship with flora and fauna. She is Professor of Practice in Contemporary Design at Aalto University, Helsinki, where she also lives. Lohmann studied at the Royal College of Art, where she has also taught and completed an AHRC-funded collaborative PhD scholarship between the RCA and the Victoria & Albert Museum. As designer in residence at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2013, she founded the Department of Seaweed, an interdisciplinary community of practice exploring the sustainable development of seaweed as a design material. As part of her advocacy, she made a seaweed pavilion for the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos to engage delegates with issues facing the natural world.
Julia Lohmann’s work is part of major public and private collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and has received awards, bursaries and support from the Esmeé Fairbairn Foundation, the British Council, Jerwood Contemporary Makers, D&AD, Stanley Picker Gallery, Arts Foundation, Wellcome Trust and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
