Paper pulp

Paper Pulp

Based within the depths of the Arctic circle it can be hard to find the materials that you need. The basic necessities that once made up your artistic practice become unavailable.

Since moving to Tromsø, Norway in 2020 artist Anna Hester has had to shape her artistic practice depending on what she has available within the area. Like in any city, each day local institutions and businesses receive an abundant supply of the latest news through their letter boxes, a lot of which goes unread and thrown away. By collecting these newsprints Anna has been able to turn them into paper pulp. A basic recipe consisting of shredded and watered-down newsprint then drained, flour added as a binding agent, shaped and sculpted and finally dried. The outcome is a hard and durable surface, similar to that of a rock.

This process has been used by the artist in a series of untitled works spanning from early 2020 until the present day, based upon domestic objects. Functional art that gives her and hopefully other people the answers to domestic issues. Which in turn change our attitudes towards ways of living depending on specific materials and techniques.

Heavily inspired by rock chewers or specifically Pyornkrachzark, a character from The Neverending Story (1984) by German author Michael Ende. A character is not only made from rocks, but they use rocks for everything that they need and do. It has made the artist wonder why we can’t live as the rock chewers do? To build a domestic environment around ourselves in which we are solely dependent upon a singular material.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.