(1.1) Material Shifts: Redesigns from Recyclate

Material Shifts shows what remains and what is lost when we manufacture everyday objects from purely recycled materials. The installation by the IDRV translates scientific data into speculative redesigns that reveal the aesthetic and functional consequences of today’s recycling processes. This makes it clear that recycling is essential, but not limitless. Between evidence and imagination, the project invites us to understand the circular economy as a future that can be shaped.

Material Shifts is an artistic research project. It builds on published data on recycling rates as well as on in-house material analyses. The referenced sources were selected for their scientific grounding but also for their accessibility to students, and are presented in an interactive interface that allows users to retrieve individual data and trace them visually. The visible connection between data and resulting design decisions is designed to be easily accessible and opens up space for discussion.

For selected everyday products, the material composition was determined as precisely as possible—based on data sheets and, where necessary, through disassembly. This formed the basis for estimating what share of the materials is recycled in Austria and what share is lost. These balances were translated into redesigns and data visualisations that illustrate the aesthetic and functional consequences of contemporary recycling processes.

The results are simplified approximations offered without guarantee. Their aim is to make complex material flows tangible and accessible.