Written Response

1. Personal Statement:

Through this project I clarified my position as a practitioner: I am strongest as a researcher and framework-builder who translates messy institutional realities into legible structures. I led much of the inquiry by interviewing students and workshop technicians across departments, then synthesising their accounts into a speculative “future archaeology” of UAL’s paper circulation in 2026, informed by the university’s net zero plan.

The research revealed a system that can appear sustainable yet remains unevenly coordinated. As paper moves through its lifecycle—from supply chain decisions to use, waste handling, and recycling—key information progressively disappears (traceability, recyclability, carbon indicators). At the same time, responsibility shifts downward along that route and can become invisibly personalised: users are expected to “do the right thing” at the end of the chain, even when guidance is partial, embedded, or inconsistent. In this sense, accountability diffuses rather than consolidates.

Crucially, awareness and environmental knowledge do not automatically translate into behaviour: decisions are still shaped by price, convenience, timing, and what is practically visible in the moment. Our Minesweeper-inspired interface became my way to materialise this—making absence, misalignment, and responsibility-shifts experienceable, so the system can be questioned and negotiated rather than simply announced.