If discarded materials hold so much potential, why do so many possibilities remain unrealised?
In this talk, Danlu Zheng traces how her artistic exploration of human hair led to a wider investigation into the challenges of material reuse. While developing her Hair project, she encountered research revealing the many potential applications of waste hair. This prompted a question that took her beyond her own experiments: what stands between a material’s potential and its use in everyday life?
Through interviews with material researchers, designers, founders and sustainability practitioners working in China, she explored how technical limitations, collaboration, commercial pressures and public expectations shape the development of waste-derived materials.
Presented as part of her solo exhibition, Still Life, the talk follows this journey from artistic experimentation to industry research and back to her practice.