Air pollution-eating paint utilized in London artwork present
V
isitors to a brand new outside artwork exhibition will breathe somewhat simpler after one of many artists used a brand new pollution-eating paint for her work.
Jojo Bedell is one among 10 artists who’ve teamed up with a few of the capital’s main scientists for Paint Lab as a part of this 12 months’s Great Exhibition Road Festival which sees the west London avenue, residence to museums together with the V&A and the Natural History Museum, remodeled into an enormous open air artwork studio.
The east London-based painter and textile designer has labored with with chemist Dr Andreas Kafizas and can be utilizing paint containing titanium dioxide which in daylight can convert harmful Nitrogen Oxide into much less dangerous gases.
Artist Jojo Bedell
/ handoutMark McClure, who’s co-curating Paint Lab with Jo Peel, stated: “The paint reacts with sunlight and that triggers a reaction that allows it to absorb pollutants so the potential for that is fascinating and like everything in the exhibition it is good fun and democratising the art itself and bringing science to people in a way that’s accessible.”
Also collaborating within the competition, organised by Imperial College, is Chao Wu who lectures at its Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and who has labored with artist Andy Macgregor to spotlight the estimated 5,200 wind turbine blades being decommissioned within the UK within the subsequent 5 years by grinding one down so as to add to color used within the present.
Mr McClure stated: “Wind turbines aren’t recycled at the moment and they have a life span of about 25 years.
“They’re made up of fibreglass and resin composites so there are a lot of plastics in there which are difficult to decompose and the research behind this is to grind down the turbine blades and use the resulting powder as part of concrete which will go back into building the pads for more blades so it’s a circular recycling process and Andy is planning on using some of that ground down powder in the artwork to highlight that.”
All the artists will find yourself creating an 8ft by 8ft work that can be displayed alongside the favored thoroughfare in west London.
Mr McClure stated the artists and scientists had developed their concepts in Zoom conferences whereas speaking about their respective pursuits.
Jo Peel stated: “We are excited to see what will happen as scientists step out of their labs and artists leave their studios, bringing their research and imaginations to the streets and creating new work before the Festival audience. Paint Lab is an immediate blending of art and science, with each partnership a reflection of how diverse institutions are coming together to create the Festival.”
: The Great Exhibition Road Festival is free and is on June 17 and 18. For extra data go to www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk