Ignorance is Bliss

Agne Kucerenkaite is a designer based in Eindhoven. Kucerenkaite designs materials and products such as pigments, dyes and textiles that demonstrate the value of waste material.

Ignorance is Bliss, a collection of ceramics and textiles, cheekily refers to the Industrial Revolution’s overproduction without heed to the poisoning of soil, water and air. It attributes waste metals and other pollutants from water treatment plants and soil remediation companies and turns them into pigments. The collection consists of porcelain tableware, ceramic interior wall tiles and woven textiles, each of which makes use of applications of metal waste. Surprisingly, the more contaminated the raw material, the greater the potential for the colours of the designed objects. Ignorance is Bliss has continued; in collaboration with a tile manufacturer in North Holland with whom she produces a series of tiles with post-waste glazes, Kucerenkaite has also developed a collection of rugs, coloured using dyes that originate from botanical and iron waste.