Exploring Material Memory: An Interdisciplinary Practice in Fine and Applied Arts through Recycled Textileage Sculptures and Soundscapes

Project Abstract

This study investigates the experiential and material dimensions of memory through an interdisciplinary practice that synthesizes recycled textiles, sculpture, and soundscapes within Fine and Applied Arts. It articulates how discarded textile remnants transformed into tactile sculptures and ambient sonic environments can serve as repositories of personal and collective memory, while also interrogating sustainability, material politics, and the ethics of reuse. The research adopts a practice-led, mixed-methods framework combining studio-based fabrication, phenomenological analysis, and audience-engagement studies to trace how material memory is produced, stored, and elicited in viewers. Central questions address how reclaimed textiles encode time–space histories, how sculptural form mediates sensory recall, and how sound design can foreground memory through immersive listening practices. Methodologically, the project engages iterative cycles of material gathering, experimental prototyping, and collaborative performance-based installations. Fieldwork includes sourcing discarded fabrics from local textile workshops and communities, documenting their provenance, and cataloguing material transformations through process journals, digital archives, and sensory mapping. The sculptural work leverages traditional textile techniques alongside contemporary fabrication methods to construct multi-sensory objects that invite tactile exploration and physical interaction. Soundscapes are engineered to complement the visual and haptic aspects, employing field recordings, environmental acoustics, and generative audio techniques to evoke temporal layers and spatial ubiquity. Theoretical underpinnings draw on memory studies, phenomenology, material culture theory, and eco-criticism, integrating perspectives from artists and scholars to frame how memory becomes legible within art-making and audience reception. The significance of the project lies in its potential to broaden understandings of memory as inherently material, to showcase sustainable praxis in fine and applied arts, and to provide accessible methodologies for communities to repurpose waste into meaningful cultural artifacts. Preliminary outcomes include a series of textile-based sculptures that reveal the implied biographies of their discarded constituents, accompanied by sound installations that create immersive environments where visitors can recall, reflect, and reimagine histories embedded in fabric fibers, seams, and distortions of sound. The research records and analyzes audience responses to determine how memory is co-constructed through the intertwined sensory modalities of touch, sight, and hearing, as well as through social interaction within exhibition spaces. Ethical considerations address consent, labor histories of textile sourcing, and the environmental implications of reuse practices. The study contributes to ongoing dialogues about material agency, memory economies, and the role of interdisciplinary practice in articulating nuanced understandings of personal and communal memory. Overall, the project positions recycled textiles as generative media capable of articulating complex temporalities, while demonstrating how sculpture and sound can converge to produce compelling, reflective experiences that engage diverse publics in contemplating sustainability, identity, and memory.

Project Overview

What This Project Is About

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A hands-on study exploring how everyday waste materials can be transformed into art that speaks about memory and time. The project combines sculpture made from recycled textiles and sound experiments to create pieces that invite viewers to reflect on personal and collective memory.

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The Problem It Addresses

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Many communities struggle with textile waste and fast fashion. This project shows how discarded fabrics can gain new meaning when used in art, helping people see memory as something that endures beyond material life and encouraging sustainable creativity.

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Objectives of the Project

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1. Demonstrate how recycled textiles can be shaped into meaningful sculptural forms.
2. Create accompanying soundscapes to deepen the sense of memory and place.
3. Document the process for others to replicate sustainable art practices.
4. Engage audiences through interactive installations that invite storytelling.

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What You Will Do Step by Step

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1. Collect and sort discarded textiles from local sources.

2. Experiment with simple sculptural techniques to repurpose fabrics.

3. Develop short sound pieces using found sounds and basic electronics.

4. Integrate sculpture and sound into installable works.

5. Observe audience reactions and gather feedback.

6. Compile documentation and reflect on memory themes.

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Expected Outcome

A developed body of textile sculptures paired with soundscapes that together evoke memory, plus a process guide for sustainable art making and a short reflective report on audience impact.