This article investigates the aesthetic advice posted by temporary employment agencies on their websites. These agencies organise a substantial part of the Dutch labour market and they are known to apply exclusionary practices in their strategies of recruitment and selection in order to meet employers’ preferences. This article sheds light on (1) the content of the advice; (2) how it legitimises the importance of aesthetics for finding work; and (3) in what ways the advice serves the purposes of the agencies. An in-depth content analysis illustrates how the advice has the potential to reproduce exclusions, thus helping employment agencies adhere to employers’ exclusionary requests. Creating online content that generates traffic to the websites in this case causes a circular logic in which the importance of aesthetics is self-reinforcing. The study illustrates that the seemingly neutral and empty advice posted on websites may enforce exclusions in the temporary work labour market.
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The demand for sustainable colourants is gaining significant recognition across many industries, the UN, governments, and also among consumers. As awareness grows, the urgent need to develop eco-friendly alternatives to traditional pigments and dyes, often criticized for their energy-intensive processes and environmental impact, becomes apparent. The RAAK-PRO project proposal "ChromoFlavo" addresses this need by exploring the biomanufacturing of Structural Colour (SC) in a novel way using Flavobacteria. SC features microscopically structured particles that interact with light in a similar way to peacock feathers, offering vivid, non-toxic colours while reducing energy use and reliance on renewable resources. Although Bacterial-Derived Structural Colours (BDSC) show great promise, they are still in early development, particularly regarding scalability and the preservation and formulation of colourants. To tackle these challenges, the RAAK-PRO proposal aims to advance this technology to meet market needs. The project’s initial focus is on architectural coatings and design, areas where aesthetics and sustainability are paramount, and where designers are often eager to adopt new technologies. By demonstrating BDSC's potential in these sectors, the project seeks to underscore its broader applicability in other sectors. The colourant industry, with its diverse applications, presents challenges to adopting innovative technologies. To overcome these, the project will develop a business roadmap that integrates designer input to strategically position and promote BDSC. This important activity is designed to promote future product development. This project brings together a consortium of academic institutions, biotech SMEs, industrial designers, and industry partners to enhance the durability and consistency of structural colours produced by bacteria. The goals include establishing cost-effective production methods and developing paints and coatings incorporating SC derivatives. Through innovation in sustainable colourants, the "ChromoFlavo" project aspires to drive a transformative shift in the colour industry, ultimately scaling BDSC technology to meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly solutions.
To decrease the environmental impact caused by the construction sector, biobased materials need to be further developed to allow better integration and acceptance in the market. Mycelium composites are innovative products, with intrinsic properties which rise the attention of architects, designers and industrial companies. Until now, research has focused on the mechanical properties of mycelium products. The aim has been improving their mechanical strength, to achieve wider application in the construction sector. Alongside this, to introduce mycelium composites to a wider market, the aesthetic experience of the public also needs to be considered. In the context of this proposal, it is argued that users of biobased products can shift their attitudes towards their surroundings by adjusting to the visual aesthetics within their environment or products they surround themselves with (Hekkert, 1997). This can be further attributed to colours which can be experienced as warm or cold, aggressive or inviting, leading to experiences that may include pleasure or displeasure indicating the future success of the bio based product. Mycelium composites can be used as building materials, but also as interior design materials, therefore visible to its user. It is to determine the appropriate methodologies to confer colour to mycelium composites that the companies Impershield and Dorable came together to form the consortium for the present project. The investigated ways are: 1. Through the preliminary colouring of fibres and their use as substrate for mycelium growth 2. The surface treatment of the final product. The Centre of Expertise BioBased Economy (CoEBBE) and the Centre of Applied Research for Art and Design (CARADT) will be guiding the research through their experience with mycelium composites. This project will lay the basis to enhance visual appearance of mycelium composites, with the utilization of natural pigments, natural paints and coatings.
Connecting Otherwise is an artistic/design research project initiated by The Hmm and the research department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Sandberg Instituut, alongside a consortium of invited stakeholders from the creative industries and research institutions such as Small File Media Festival, Hackers & Designers, and Stichting LINK. It focuses on the development of interdisciplinary workshop formats exploring regenerative aesthetics and the materiality of digital technologies through hands-on and collective research approaches. Drawing on feminist and decolonial hacking principles and critical making, the project's aim is to make tangible and reimagine digital materiality while resisting extractive tendencies. Promoting regenerative design principles, it addresses the environmental impact of digital technologies and resource depletion, emphasizing art and design’s role in tackling these challenges. We believe the intersectional character of such challenges requires collective and interdisciplinary approaches to design and art making, which are rarely fostered conceptually and practically within the creative industries and educational institutions. The workshops build upon the expertise of the collaborating partners, who bring together art, design, technology, and education and have been instrumental in bridging art and science, supporting artists and designers in contributing to interdisciplinary research environments. Via a series of interconnected workshops the project will engage art and design professionals, educators, and students in material-based research around the social and environmental impact of digital technologies. Participants will explore circuit-making through community craft traditions, embrace ‘slowness’ and ‘lowness’ as frugal and regenerative principles for digital design and art making, and use weaving as a framework for exploring interconnected digital and territorial relationships. The aim is to creatively and critically examine the challenges that (future) art and design practitioners in the creative industries face when building and participating in contemporary digital culture in ways that are both sustainable and equitable.
