Gold Circular Economy and Regenerative Design · 2023
TCLGreen Sustainable Art Installation
- A' Design Award 2023 Gold Winner in Circular Economy and Regenerative Design
- Awarded April 15, 2023
- CLIENT: TCL Green and Warner Bros Discovery
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 535,204
- Verification code 2A3085C591 · Verify this award
About TCLGreen Sustainable Art Installation
TCLGreen is a modular Grass inspired Art installation and can be adapted to any location. Recycled from over 3000 discarded computer circuit boards and illuminated at night entirely by the power of the sun. With a special bioluminescent coating that glows in the dark by absorbing both natural and artificial photons, it illuminates even without electricity. An included Artificial Intelligence system is embedded into the totems where the installation can "talk" to anyone organically. A special Metaverse Immersion is included once VR/AR goggles are worn.
Kevin Chu's TCLGreen Sustainable Art Installation emerges from contemporary discourse surrounding regenerative design and circular economy principles, positioning itself within a lineage of land art practices that seek meaningful dialogue between human creative intervention and natural environments. The work demonstrates remarkable sensitivity to its alpine setting, with the vertical sculptural elements appearing to grow organically from the meadow floor like metallic reeds or ancient standing stones reinterpreted through contemporary material consciousness. The patinated surfaces suggest deliberate engagement with oxidation processes and weathering phenomena, allowing natural forces to participate in the ongoing aesthetic development of the installation rather than resisting environmental transformation. Compositionally, the arrangement of elements creates rhythmic visual music across the landscape, with varying heights and slight angular variations introducing organic irregularity within an overall geometric discipline. The strategic siting before a dramatic geological backdrop establishes powerful scalar contrasts, positioning human-scale sculptural objects against the sublime immensity of mountain formation. The presence of both human visitor and grazing animal within the scene speaks to the installation's successful integration into existing pastoral rhythms, suggesting an artwork that enhances rather than disrupts ecological and agricultural continuities. The reflective water surface introduces contemplative dimension, inviting meditation on relationships between surface and depth, appearance and reality, the made and the found. This work invites consideration of how contemporary art practice might model sustainable material cycles and regenerative approaches to landscape intervention, asking viewers to contemplate what forms of creative expression honor rather than exploit our environmental inheritance.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- TCL Green (project Neoerba, meaning NewGrass) was conceived by Kevin Chu, founder of Creazione Sugo. The project all started when Warner Bros contacted him through a Chinese Consumer Electronics conglomerate, TCL, who wish to recycle its vast inventory of electronic waste into something artistic and contribute to improving our environment.
Kevin Chu, through an instantaneous moment observing the grass field where his child was playing in Roseto, decided to utilize the abstracted digital geometry of individual blades of grass as the initiation on this installation. His idea was rather than the usual approach to a traditional standalone sculpture, Neorba need to be “planted” as a modular system and can be adapted into any location with the flexibility of a Viral Art Installation. He decided to collect thousands of pieces of discarded Pcb Computer Circuit Boards collected from electronic waste as their green hue and translucency allows for an amazing transmission of light and coloration similar to plantations.
Once the initial geometrical formation was decided the entire installation is hand made with an internal hollow steel structure and each circuit board are chosen in random and gradually laminated over the structure organically without predefined patterns. Photovoltaic flood lights were integrated into each structure or totem for night-time illumination in keeping with sustainability of utilizing renewable energy provided by the sun. Finally, it is finished off with a bioluminescent paint that glows in the dark through absorption of photons from both natural and artificial light source and a specially formulated photocatalytic coating, which is used by Nasa space agency on its satellites, was applied onto each of the Grass Blade “Totems” which allows the entire installation to purify the atmosphere from Virus, Bacteria and Pollutants activated only with sunlight and moving air biomimicry from the process of photosynthesis. For this installation a total of 42 Totems were made as the more quantity there are, the more we can recycle, and the atmospheric purification effect becomes more pronounced.
A special immersive Virtual Reality Artwork was created by Kevin Chu which allows Neoerba to enter the metaverse where one can experience an alternative dimension and meaning to the installation. The Virtual Reality Artwork was in the context of mass production is engrained into our current generation, but we are now slowly migrating to a more sustainable mindset, and it reflects the dichotomy of past believes and the unknown conflict of future directions for humankind. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Grass Blade Totems comes in 3 dimensions at H 2800mm x W 470mm x D 453mm | H 2200mm x W 470mm x D 453mm | H 1800mm x W 470mm x D 453mm.
Entire installation foot print is approx L 31m x W 2m x H 2.8m - Tags
- sustainable, metaverse, art, recycle, nft, environmental, installation, photocatalysis, upcycle, vr
- Production Technology
- Material used in realization: Upcycle Computer PCB Circuit Boards, Galvanized Steel Structure, Low Voc paint, Photovoltaic LED Flood Lights, Bioluminescent Paint, Photocatalytic High Pressure Spray on Treatment.
- Design Challenge
- As with this specific project, as recycling so many computer boards into such a large installation, which was never been done before, we were extremely pressed for time in research and design and we needed to construct prototypes and models in less then 3 weeks in order to meet the entire project time frame.
One of the most challenging part was we needed to work on this project during August when nearly all suppliers and companies are closed for the summer vacation in Italy, we have to move the entire installation to any available space in order to work through the holidays and meet the event launch deadline of September 6th with the Discovery film crew was arriving to Abruzzo all the way from Singapore.
Since we were using so many recycle computer boards, we were also soliciting our client TCL's entire electronic waste inventory on computer boards during August with very slow logistic services sent from client's warehouse.
We also took on the insane idea, suggested by our photographer Mr Giovanni Albani Lattanzi to complete our final photographic session in a UNESCO world heritage site of Gran Sasso mountain range and we were told that we are the first ever to bring any art installation to the shooting site of Lago Pietrazoni. The logistic and timing co-ordination needs to be immaculate as we were working in conditions during October 2022, from 24C to 4C late into the evening with humidity and unknown wind and weather conditions delaying our 12 hours shooting window. - Project Duration
- Project concept was conceived in 2022 June 22nd and was completed on 2022 September 10th on its first event opening.
- Operation Flow
- The Project is entirely activated by sustainable energy and does not require any operation. Our planet is the main catalyst for functioning this installation.
- Research
- The planning was first dialogues between client TCL, Discovery Channel and SUGO on how to push Art, Sustainability, Technology to the next level. How we can bridge the gap between physical objects and the metaverse with the relevant context and the audience needs to instantaneously teleported into the real and simulated space.
Once SUGO decided on the digital geometry of using grass as the metaphorical muse, the shape was streamlined to its most simplistic form in order to recall a dramatic image of The Obelisk inspired by the film A Space Odyssey 2001 by Stanley Kubrick.
TCL Green NEOERBA was fusing many elements together such as science, material/technology, philosophy, architecture, lighting into one single unity that lets the audience decides what is their chosen interpretation.
SUGO was working with a very complicated multi-dimension brief to approach this installation as it needs to be ground breaking and worthy of Discovery Channel to create the documentaries with themes that needs to be current and future proof for the times. - Inspiration
- Kevin Chu, through an instantaneous moment observing the grass field where his child was playing in Roseto deli Abruzzi in Italy, decided to utilize the abstracted digital geometry of individual blades of grass as the initiation on this installation..
- Image Credits
- Photography: Giovanni Albani Lattanzi
Videography 1 Discovery Channel : Warner Bros Discovery Singapore and Greater China.
Videography 2: SUGO - Patents
- The project is Patent Pending
Colors of TCLGreen Sustainable Art Installation
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G0E3 ShopDesign Interview about TCLGreen Sustainable Art Installation
The design was inspired from a child playing on a field of grass where its symbolism on green nature and its geometry fascinates me. A strand of grass is then 3D scanned and reduce the polygon count to just 4 and this is the approximate share of my creations. The idea was to create an art installation in modular form which can be adapted and grown in much larger scale, just like grass itself and i call it "NewGrass" hence "NeoErba.
I want to recycle as much PCB computer boards as possible and use it amazing green hue to creat a unique fragmented lighting installation. It is a reminder of how the pass of our digital age has created our current obsession in Immesion into the cyberspace. This is why there needs to be both the Mixed Reality Goggles and the entire installation in front of the audience to create this bridge. We are very thankful our client, TCL Electronics, provided us with so many discarded PCB boards as without this element it will have never been created.
TCL Green Neoerba was created in September 2022 and first launch its exhibition in Villa Comunale, Roseto Degli Abruzzi, then in 2023 April it was partially displayed in Fuorisalone, Milan, Italy and now 2023 July it will be taken as permanent exhibition in Roseto Degli Abruzzi between 2 significant Villas in this town. I am touched by the Circle of Life this creations.
From initial pitch in June 2022 to completion in September 11th 2022, it only took 2.5 months thanks immensely to the expert manufacturing and engineering from our partnership with Disisto 1940 based in Giulianova, Abruzzo, Italy.
It was commissioned by Warner Bros Discovery Asia as they were requested to created a short documentary for realizing this piece. TCL Electronics was the original client who gave me the simple brief on make someting artistic with electronic waste as its main component.
The design concept is owned by my firm and currently we have wish to increase the quanitty of the installation as the more it is created, the more PCB boards we will recycle and the more impressive the design becomes. We are disusing with Apple and Archetype AI to implement new generation of Mixed Reality Goggles as well as Voice AI generation.
I think is natural i created TCL Green Neoerba because of my obsession with Nature, Sustainability and Fusion of Physical and Metaphysical elements. Perhaps it is my age where my education was the last era and hand drawn architecture but the dawn of computer assisted architecture but it seems the hand drawn element is going through a revival. Now we have to embrace the new era of AI!
Nature the greatest architect!
Customer who want to understand the history and future of our digital age and someone who appreciated recycling that helps our planet. TCL Green Neoerba is a symbolism that big corporation can also be responsible via the path of art and creativity
This is the World's Largest Recycle PCB Boards Art Installation ever created as endorsed by Guinness World Records although we cannot attain this title as when we approach Guinness, the installation was already completed and in order to gain GWR record, the design has be approved and filmed live by GWR.
This is a new biological entity inspired by Grass, So what better name then NeoErba (since the project was conceived in Italy, why not Italian) TCL Green is the initiated TCL Electronics started as a hub to encourage recycling electronic waste into art and this project gave birth to this initiative.
CAD. 3D Max, Unreal Engine 5, Meta Quest Pro, Hand sketch, 3D printing.
This is installation is deceptive in a way you can appreciate it in reality but with Mixed reality it become an entirely different animal. The contact with pass, present and future is all shown simultaneously and i believe this is why it is rather unique.
Disisto 1940 for all Steelwork manufacturing. CMT Dynamica on PCB Boards advise. TCL Electronic on Recycle PCB boards supply. Warner Bros Discovery on filming in Abruzzo, Italy as well as my family and friends who help me on so many things such as transport and translation as we were working in the worse time of Italy. August where everything was closed.
This is an installation inspired PCB Circuit boards, the original element of all technology in our digital age. TCL Green Neoerba is technology, reused!
Some data was reseached on how much electronic waste was discard globally and it is 1.5 million tones. Of course our installation is a droplet in the ocean on what it can recycle but i hope it shows a dialogue on expending more on art and recycling.
Limited time frame, Recycle PCB boards supply and the worse it freaking august in Italy.
It was suggested by mysefl with your esteem award and agreed by the client.
I learned so much more on Mixed Reality technology, steel works technique, the hardship of working and being filmed and so much more. This is truly an enlightened and stressful project, but all worked out eventually, somehow!