Rubbish Glazes

Rubbish Glazes asks us to question what we choose to forget and what we choose to remember in a circular system where our connection with the human and the non-human is intimately intertwined. Hannah’s work is about municipal waste, and the extraordinary lengths we go to forget about it. All 4 million tonnes of Switzerland’s municipal waste is burnt, leaving behind approximately 1 million tonnes of ash. This ash is buried underground, changing the soils and landscape at a mineral and chemical level. Hannah’s work asks us to reflect on what really happens when we throw things away. Ash from the municipal waste incineration plants of Bern and Fribourg has been collected, and used to make ceramic glaze. The various metals and toxins left in the ash contribute to a variety of textures and colours.