PlastIC Film Competition Winners: Burning Closets!
Last year, we launched a film competition open to our own Arts University Bournemouth students. Our hope was simple: tap into the creative minds within our own institution and celebrate the extraordinary talent working just down the corridor from us.
With a goal to use creative expression to introduce the PlastIC Research Centre, explaining what we do in a way that felt accessible, engaging, and relevant; we were keen to create an opportunity for student filmmakers to demonstrate their artistic skill and contribute to the ongoing social commentary around plastics.
Our Winners: Burning Closets
At the panel interview stage of the competition, Burning Closets (J Taylor-Jones, Evelyn Norman-Rogers, Paula Szczyrba, Grace Phillips, Toby Farrant and Bethany Barr) arrived with a clarity and definition that stood out.
Their original concept was rooted in a sharp cultural observation:
“In the current zeitgeist, plastics are the subject of much scrutiny and fear, it’s almost like a horror film… Looking to the past of plastic will reveal a better future for our relationship with it – and that it’s not something to fear!”
And from there, they posed two provocative questions:
- Has our industry turned plastic into a weapon of self-destruction, and how can we look to our heritage to turn things around?
- Does plastic deserve the horror-movie scream it’s currently getting from the world?
Rather than lean into the fear narrative, their idea was to disrupt it. By exploring the Plastic Innovation & Curation Research Centre within AUB’s hub of creativity, spotlighting our work, and drawing from the history of plastics through MoDiP, they aimed to “break the horror aesthetic” and replace it with colour, clarity and optimism; demonstrating that understanding plastics’ past can illuminate a better future.
Our Research Fellow in Heritage Science, Dr Erato Kartaki shared “We loved that this wasn’t framed as a one-off project for them. They spoke about using part of the prize to help build momentum for their future collaborations together. It felt great to believe we weren’t awarding a single commission but contributing to a larger creative ambition.”
Competition organiser, Oliver Moore adds:
“Working with Burning Closets was an intense pleasure.
They arrived with a passion that matched their moniker, and they made an enormous amount happen within a tight timeline, inside an active and bustling studio environment.
What they ultimately produced is a fantastic piece of work that our team couldn’t be happier with.
One of the elements we particularly adore is the lighting in the short dramatic sequence. The metaphor of a muted, darker colour palette gradually coming into clarity and light perfectly mirrors what we strive to do as a research centre: bring understanding, nuance and illumination to the conversation around plastics.”
A Spring Reveal
Ready to welcome new curious minds into the PlastIC fold. Just in time for Spring, and its new beginnings; we are delighted to officially introduce Burning Closets as our PlastIC Film Competition winners by sharing their finished film ‘PLASTIC! Not So Petrifying…’.