The Aftermath Sculpture
January 2022 to Present
Artistic Collaboration
Page Description:
This page contains information about The Aftermath Sculpture, an artistic collaboration that I have contributed to, along with links, details about my role, and project photos.
Links:
Learn more about the sculpture on the project website. Read an interview I did in April 2022 about the sculpture and an article I co-wrote in 2022 about textile waste.
Project Information:
Description
Per the Aftermath Learning Lab website, “the Aftermath Sculpture (2021) is a large-scale multi-media sculpture and art advocacy collaboration about the global impacts of textile pollution created by The Aftermath Learning Lab. It was designed by developmental psychologist Dr. Julia DeVoy, health researcher and artist Dielle Lundberg, fashion designer and environmental educator Matilda Lartey, internationally recognized artist Mark Cooper, STEAM education researcher Dr. Brian Smith, Make Fashion Clean (MFC Tie-Dye), and The MFI Foundation with support from the Boston College Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. The installation consists of a modular shelving system, secondhand clothing collected from the Boston College community, protest signs that link through QR codes to the lab’s Textile Waste Facts educational resource (a crash course about global textile pollution designed to accompany the sculpture), and a project documentary. The goal: to face up to a global economy of throwaway consumption and “fast fashion” that contributes to global textile pollution, waste colonialism, environmental racism, and the climate crisis. The Aftermath team invites all who engage with the sculpture into a 5-point call to action.
The sculpture is currently on a national tour and has so far visited: Bridgewater State University, the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Boston University Charles River Campus, Boston University School of Public Health, The ACCelerate Festival at The Smithsonian Museum of American History, and The McMullen Museum at Boston College.”
Role
My creative role in the project has been as a co-creator, collaborator and project manager. I have contributed to the project development, design of the public health learning elements, the technological integration of elements in the sculpture, and coordination of the installation.
Coverage & Related Content:
Textile Waste as a Public Health Equity Issue and the Need for a Political and Structural Response: Introductory Remarks as part of the LEAPS Conference 2023 in May 2023
Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of "Fast-Fashion”? An Interview with Julia DeVoy by Eric Alvarez on NBC LX News in March 2023
The Aftermath of Fast Fashion: How Discarded Clothes Impact Public Health and the Environment by Dielle J. Lundberg and Julia E. DeVoy for an exhibition of the sculpture at Boston University School of Public Health in September 2022
Textile Waste, Environmental Justice, and the Aftermath of Fast Fashion: A Collaborative Panel Discussion by Matilda Lartey, Stacey Johnson, and Dielle Lundberg for The Aftermath Learning Lab and Make Fashion Clean in September 2022
Post-Consumer Textile Waste and Disposal: Differences by Socioeconomic, Demographic, and Retail Factors by Julia E. DeVoy, Elizabeth Congiusta, Dielle J. Lundberg, Sarah Findeisen, and Sunand Bhattacharya published in the peer-reviewed Waste Management journal in November 2021
Project Photos:
Visit the Aftermath Learning Lab website for more photos of the sculpture on its national tour.
Image Description: A heads-on photo of the Aftermath Sculpture — a large, room-size textile sculpture made from secondhand clothing, advocacy signs, wood, and technological elements that she collaborated on — at its exhibition on the Boston University Charles River Campus
Image Description: A heads-on photo of the Aftermath Sculpture — a large, room-size textile sculpture made from secondhand clothing, advocacy signs, wood, and technological elements that she collaborated on — at its exhibition at the Boston University School of Public Health
Image Description: Dielle Lundberg standing in front of the Aftermath Sculpture — a large, room-size textile sculpture made from secondhand clothing, wood, and technological elements that she collaborated on — at its exhibition during the ACCelerate Festival 2022 at the Smithsonian Museum of American History
Image Description: A side view of the Aftermath Sculpture — a large, room-size textile sculpture made from secondhand clothing, advocacy signs, wood, and technological elements that she collaborated on — at its exhibition on the Boston University Charles River Campus
Image Description: Collaborators on the Aftermath Sculpture — including artist Mark Cooper and principal investigator Dr. Julia DeVoy — gather with organizers from the Activist Lab at Boston University School of Public Health who organized an on-campus panel around the exhibition.
Image Description: A close-up photo of Dielle Lundberg with collaborator Dr. Julia DeVoy during a break between programming at the ACCelerate Festival 2022 at the Smithsonian Museum of American History