This Is Copper Collection
Copper is ubiquitous to our modern world, yet it is largely invisible. It is the first metal used by humankind, and it is crucial for a renewable future: a wind turbine alone can contain up to five tonnes of copper, and ten tonnes of the metal are needed per kilometre of high-speed railway.
But what exactly is copper? The metal we know is only part of a much wider material story. Mining overburden, tailings, metal concentrates, rare metals like gold and silver, sulfuric acid, sulphate solution, slag, and more.
All of this is copper, or in other words is a direct result of processing, using, and recycling copper. This project exposes and proposes potential uses for some of these overlooked byproducts as the search for evermore copper continues.
About the artists
Led by KevinRouff and Paco Böckelmann, ThusThat bridges collectible design with material science to create pieces that are strong, simple, and direct in form, keeping the complexity packed within the materiality itself. Their work with wastes of the mining and metallurgy industries have received widespread recognition, exhibition, and international awards, with pieces in the permanent collection of the London DesignMuseum and Design Museum Gent.