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<\/a>The work chosen for the Heritage prize, after no small degree of agonising and with the help of sponsor Ford Green Hall\u2019s Neil Dawson, was a small collage in the upstairs gallery, <\/a>Rising<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0Created by Stoke-on-Trent\u2019s Sheena Kelly, it is a stitched collage in \u2018mixed media\u2019 depicting a smoking kiln, factory building and canal.\u00a0 Fragments of text: \u2018we love locally\u2019, \u2018in small batches\u2019 etc. also suggest pottery production \u2013 a particularly artisanal industry.\u00a0 The slightly na\u00efve execution references Stoke-on-Trent\u2019s industrial heritage, but also comprises a witty commentary on the current state of the city along with the global problem of waste production and disposal.<\/p>\nThe term \u2018mixed-media\u2019 can hide a multitude \u2013 Rising<\/em> is made of refuse, bits of old packaging.\u00a0 One connotation is the waste of the pottery industry and its workers.\u00a0 But there is a positive spin \u2013 not least in the title: just as rubbish is recycled into art, the industrial heritage buildings depicted here are being turned to new use.\u00a0 Middleport Pottery, still successfully producing Burleigh ware, is currently hosting the Weeping Windows ceramic poppies installation.\u00a0 This is expected to generate a significant influx of cultural tourism in Burslem and beyond.\u00a0 Empty shops are hosting pop-up art events and all over the city heritage buildings are being turned to new uses.<\/p>\n Enquiry to a delighted Sheena revealed that much of the material was provided by a packet of Kettle chips.\u00a0 In the service of research I purchased two packets myself – Sea Salt & Crushed Black Peppercorns and \u2018Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena\u2019. These are marketed as proper posh crisps: \u2018hand cooked\u2019, \u2018absolutely nothing artificial\u2019 \u2013 their credentials to authenticity and the artisanal are loudly trumpeted.<\/p>\n Kettle chips, in common with most successful brands, has been subject in its short history to multiple merger and takeovers.\u00a0 At one point it shared a stable (Kellog\u2019s) with its polar opposite in crisp terms, the reformed and apparently pre-masticated aberration of a potato snack that is Pringles \u2013 \u201conce you pop you can\u2019t stop\u201d.\u00a0 It is currently owned by Campbells Soup, whose flagship product spawned perhaps the most iconic food art of the twentieth century \u2013 Andy Warhol\u2019s pop-art Campbell Soup Cans<\/em> (1962, MoMA). Rising<\/em>, then, is part of a now rather august tradition commenting on consumer culture.\u00a0 We are all aware of the gaps between rhetoric and reality generated by organisations in their marketing and PR.\u00a0 Kelly has cleverly recycled this rubbish while speaking gently of the Potteries industrial past and its pain and looking optimistically to the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently had the pleasant though difficult task of judging the Heritage category at the Three Counties Open Art Exhibition administered by Keele University at the Burslem School of Art.\u00a0 Heritage, of course, has many aspects, encompassing the built environment … Continue reading <\/a>A quick visit to the\u00a0kettlebrand.com<\/a> website reveals reassuring information on the company\u2019s sustainability practices: \u2018Sustainability comes first\u2019, we are told; \u2018our natural promise extends beyond the ingredients\u2019.\u00a0 The tone is mildly patronising, puns aside: \u2018We\u2019re chipping in to live in harmony with the environment around us . . . .\u00a0\u00a0 The truth is, we all need to care for the planet.\u2018\u00a0 However, they sorrowfully admit, it has not yet been possible to find an environmentally friendly form of packaging which would protect \u2018the quality and freshiness of our product all the way to your favorite chip bowl\u2019.\u00a0 Hence, at the moment, each packet bears what we might dub the mark of McCain, also incorporated in Rising<\/em>: \u2018Sorry, this package is not currently recyclable.\u2019\u00a0 I suspect the truth of the matter is that they haven\u2019t been able to find an environmentally friendly form of packaging that would not impact negatively on the bottom line.\u00a0 Kettle is not the only brand to feature in Rising<\/em>: a bird (dove?) flying upwards across the middle ground is made of a San Pellegrino \u2018Eco-lid\u2019 \u2013 100% recyclable, apparently, but pretty much redundant and serving rather to confirm the pretensions of this pricey Euro-pop.\u00a0 (Parent company Nestle scandalously promoted powdered baby milk in developing countries back in the day.)<\/p>\n<\/a>Ironically, given the mass-produced subject and advertising by which Warhol was inspired, the medium here is painted canvas \u2013 a separate painting for each of the 32 flavors.<\/p>\n