Iris Publishers_Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology (JTSFT)

MAT_er.LAB, the Interdisciplinary Playground Where Science Means Personal Growth

Abstract

The fashion industry reacts to the current coronavirus pandemic highlighting a failing system lacking humanity. Large corporations are refusing to pay for orders that they have placed leaving the most vulnerable within the production chain paying the price. This raises the urgent question; how and when will the industry step up and change for the better? Therefore, it needs to be asked in which areas Higher Education can tackle the existing lack of responsibility and how a collaborative and social mind-set can be ignited. How can an environment where students aim to work collectively and interdisciplinary be created? MAT_er.LAB, an initiative developed by academics and technicians from the Faculty of Art, Design and Media at Birmingham City University (BCU), offers an experimental environment for students of all year groups and all courses to cross pollinate their overall learning outcome through engagement with the unknown. Detached from the curriculum, the laboratory creates a playful approach to investigate, challenge and explore whilst social skills and circular mind-sets are enhanced. Brought back into regular modules these attributes help to shape a new generation of creatives valuing a more inclusive and sharing way of working.

Keywords: Interdisciplinary Learning; Circular economy; Design thinking; Biodesign


Background of the Study

April 2020. The world is in a state of shock, everything currently seems upside down. Yet, we don’t know how the fashion industry and all linked sectors will react to the global outbreak of the coronavirus in the long run. With more weeks of lockdown to come, everyone, including Higher Education, is offered time to reflect on teaching, develop visions for an ever-changing future and fill an almost blank page of concepts with what we align to our core values for life. The disruption of what we called normality is an opportunity to slow down and create a new substantial base for a healthy society in which fashion does play a role but becomes an expression of inclusivity and collaboration on multidimensional levels, spanning mindful structures around the globe.

Current global developments differ from country to country, from society to society. Looking at the manufacturing and even disposal situation in Asia or Africa the heart of our fashion industry is already run on minimal wages and poor living conditions. Facing the dramatic consequences from this pandemic, it is likely this will extend further. So much of the vulnerability of these structures relies on how we value fashion and textiles as educators, brands and consumers. It painfully reveals how isolated parts of the supply chain still are and how detached from the processes of designing, making and dispose we remain when linear structures are followed, and the value of humans is neglected. The change in the fashion industry inevitably has to happen. If not now, then when? Disconnection from the supply chain can only be bridged with awareness for existing problems and adopting holistic approaches to find solutions on a broader scale. Taking into account that change is also driven by knowledge we need to consider where we missed chances in educating fashion design, fashion business and textile student’s year on year, acknowledging the current system is also a reflection of what we have taught them.

In 2018 the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development published the Learning Compass, their vision for the future of education in 2030. The OECD report [1] defines knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that learners need to fulfil their potential and contribute to the well-being of their communities and the planet. In detail, skills workers need to succeed rely heavily on their uniquely (so far) human capacity for creativity, responsibility and the ability to “learn to learn“ throughout their life. Further soft skills such as empathy, self-awareness, respect for others and the ability to communicate are seen as essential, with classrooms and workplaces becoming more diverse in many ways.

How can a learning environment enhance these skills, aiming to educate for a labour market that will value the well-being of communities and the planet? What opportunities do we have to react to long-lasting challenges that come with uncertainty, at the same time addressing the potential negative mental impact students may experience within the current situation? How can a different type of teaching, one that embraces a future-forward mind-set help students to transfer a positive learning outcome into their own work? Obviously, curriculum content plays a major role in how students evaluate materials, concepts and design strategies. But above all stands the open mind-set Higher Education should be able to build, creating empowered individuals with the capacity to benefit societies all over the world. This leaves educational institutions with the challenge to ignite a holistic paradigm shift through embracing new frameworks and educational practice.

Laboratory Structure Enhancing Circular Mind-Sets

In autumn 2019 a group of academics and technicians at the Institute of Jewellery, Fashion and Textiles at Birmingham City University (BCU) developed MAT_er.LAB, an interdisciplinary project within the Faculty of Art, Design and Media, aiming to facilitate and accelerate collaborative learning. Instead of just being a laboratory as the name might indicate, this initiative is far more. It is an unconventional playground aiming to explore not only materials, but also collective design and personal growth.

Cooperation with colleagues from KEA University in Copenhagen gave the team at BCU valuable insights into how to build a suitable supportive laboratory environment. This was then transferred into offering MAT_er.LAB as an on-going initiative to explore biomaterials enhancing a shift in how design is perceived and evaluated in general. The lab focuses on using waste, ordinary cooking ingredients and all kinds of plant-based sources nature offers, as a starting point to investigate material properties. Taking basic open-source recipes as a base, participants don’t have to bring profound knowledge to be able to fully participate. Hence, their inhibition level remains low and engagement with the unknown is easily achieved.

Stepping away from familiar classroom settings where students remain amongst their peers and work on course-related projects, MAT_er.LAB invites students from across all year groups including Alumni to come together in a new context. Its fundament is the unknown blank page for all participants. Hierarchies dissolve, everyone is a beginner and therefore the fear of failure is low. Situated in the textile printing facilities, the lab has no constant space yet. It makes use of the existing textile workshop, providing participants with relevant basic structures like water access, cooking hobs and a drying unit, normally used for preparing screen printing frames. This set-up builds the benchmark for the lab itself as a place where everything is possible and successful outcome only depends on how participants take ownership and improvise by turning space and tasks into their own (Figures 1-3).

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