What happens to all the wood, paper and paint once an exhibition is over? How can we develop an awareness for sustainability in the museum, not only in our exhibition practice, but also in our day-to-day working lives? At the recycling lab, we gather leftover materials from the museum’s daily activities—items that would typically be discarded—and repurpose them in a way that makes their presence visible for both us and visitors to the GfZK. How can these materials be used sustainably, how can they be recycled creatively? The recycling lab is also an upcycling workshop where people can experiment with materials and create something new.
At the recycling lab, we view waste not only as a physical byproduct but also as a socially constructed concept. What is considered unusable and worthless at any given moment reflects upon the society in which we live. This perspective makes discarded material a fascinating subject for exploring aesthetic processes. We examine this together, both during our regular opening hours and in various workshops.
Originally, the recycling lab was conceived as an educational space linked to the exhibition Things That Were Are Things Again. It has proved to be an inspiring meeting place, and continues to exist even though the exhibition has now ended.
