A Matter of stuff

London – As part of Selfridges’ Material World campaign the department store retailer has collaborated with Dazed on five short films that were premiered at its London flagship store.

• The evocative series, hosted on Dazed Digital, explores sustainability through the lens of contemporary British artists, practitioners and directors
• The five contributors were all asked the question: ‘What does sustainability mean to you?’

‘Sustainability comes in many forms, and we wanted to view the film through an optimistic lens as materials new and old are fast becoming the answer to living more sustainably,’ says Seetal Solanki, founder of materials research agency Ma-tt-er, which created a film to playfully explore the potential of the humble fungus. Taking a light-hearted approach to the theme, the film explores different future scenarios for the material mycelium, a material contained in mushrooms.

With the aim of looking towards a sustainable future, not just for the fashion industry but for the whole planet, the five films all adopt a different aesthetic and theoretical approach to demystifying the term ‘sustainability’. Exploring themes from environmentalism to cultural diversity, the other four practitioners involved were Jacob Levi, Stroma Cairns, Neverland Clan and Maisie Cousins.