“Scavenging is not static and its results are always varied. As an act it is uncertain but exciting, inconsistent but always surprising.”
In early 2023, in the ECA cafe, I had my first meeting as part of the ScavCo team. Accessibility, curiosity, open-mindedness, and sustainability were all aims which we hoped to translate into visual communication. We discussed ways to incorporate natural textures and portray the values of the initiative. By forming letters made up of textured pieces, we conveyed the act of Scavenging for materials. In using these pieces as a jigsaw and animating them slotting together, the word Collective was also reflected.
Two years later, we decided it was time for a fresh look. I had two main words in mind. The first was Texture. The lines and segments I had used previously did not convey the feeling of craft that is so strongly associated with our values. I wanted the texture to be recognisable and felt through a screen. I deliberated over a way in which I could maintain a handmade feel, even once it was digitalised. The second word which came to mind was Versatility. Timeless design is considered the best way to be cohesive and recognisable; and it is far more conventional to have a logo that remains the same over time. However, Scavenging is not static and its results are always varied. As an act it is uncertain but exciting, inconsistent but always surprising. A project which evolves as much as Scavenger Collective needs a design which can be easily moulded to encompass its many forms.
Merging these two thoughts has increased the success of both. By having a less solid shape, this is a logo which can be layered, therefore increasing its versatility. By having a shape which can be combined with other forms, it can create new textures on a screen and in print.
Original design
Pattern abstracted into segments
New texture developed
New segments created from the texture
New design
Potato printing is a craft which many of us did as children. It is accessible and provides so many outcomes from a single origin. This was the perfect way to get started. I sat down with potatoes, paint and some Scavenged paper. And so, a new logo was made from my kitchen. When printing, I used the segments from the previous design and cut the potato into quarters.
This was an element which I felt conveyed both words of Scavenger Collective and I wanted to carry this into the next design. After scanning and digitalising them, I combined the best results in the same way to create the familiar ‘SC’ shapes.
The colourway used in the branding of Scavenger Collective had become so incorporated into our identity. I knew that I wanted these to remain more or less the same. However I didn’t want the yellow to look like a second colour, but act as an off-white. By making this paler and changing the green to a darker, slightly colder colour, there was more contrast.
The final animation used in the previous logo was also very easy to layer over videos and photos for motion graphics. I replicated this as well, but staggered the segments rotating per frame. We decided the motion graphic as a frame-by-frame animation portrays the act of Scavenging well. The segments gradually rotating together like puzzle pieces is symbolic of the storytelling, gathering and problem solving that is so innate and present in our practice.
By Pablo Ortuno Cover image: Marble in El-Choury Mosque, Cairo. (Bourgoin, 1873)
“Create the object, mould it from your culture, your art, religion, philosophy, and future. Mathematics will reveal themselves if they’re there.”
In 1832, French mathematician and revolutionary Evariste Galois dies aged twenty in a fated duel in the middle of a lover’s quarrel, leaving behind in a letter the grounds for a solution to a problem which had stumbled mathematicians for hundreds of years. Galois’ solution studied symmetry in an abstract context, exemplified in Figure 1.
His ideas were picked up later by Camille Jordan (1838-1922), who formalised symmetry in mathematical terms by coining the structures known as “groups”. His work revolutionised the field of algebra at the time, storming the academic elites in Europe into a considerable development in mathematics. Nowadays, group theory, the study of symmetry, is an essential part of mathematics curriculums across universities worldwide.
Nevertheless, the study of symmetry hasn’t always been from a mathematical perspective. One of the largest cultural expressions of symmetry we have evidence of is that of Islamic geometric patterns, particularly those tessellations of a plane with infinitely repeating geometric constructions.
Figure 1: The roots of the equation(in blue) form a pentagon in an Argand diagram. A highly symmetrical shape.
This decorative style highly concerned with symmetry stems from religious beliefs on the omittance of human and animal representations, and philosophies on the infinity of God and the nature of His creation. The art and the craft needed to be transcendental, formless, and precisely constructed. Words which echo how we think (and thought, back in the days of Jordan and Galois) of pure mathematics being abstract and axiomatic.
Figure 2: Woodwork in the Mosque of Sultan Qaitbay. Cairo, 1474. (Wade, 2025)
It is then perhaps not surprising that we think of these highly geometrical wallpapers as being mathematical in nature. In doing so, however, we obfuscate the material aspect, the creative exercise, and the artisanal process behind the creation of such ornaments. The symmetry group found in a wooden window in a funerary complex in 1500’s Delhi may be the same as the one plastered in a shop in 1300’s Cairo, but the pieces are anachronical, extraneous, and made of different materials. These differences can all be forgotten in lieu of the ornaments being mathematical.
However, looking at these ornaments from a mathematical point of view, analysing the symmetry they present, is a fruitful exercise. In doing so, we have gained insight into complex mathematical structures, and the activity of “hunting for groups” presents a lot of didactic opportunities: It allows us to approach abstract mathematics from a familiar place which does not require much prior knowledge and feels intuitive. We see then an opportunity to flip the script in how abstract mathematics is often taught. By putting forward intuition-based methods in the teaching of mathematics, which we bring to life in this workshop, we take the artisan’s point of view and produce infinitely tessellating ornaments through stamping. Placing the process before the abstract, renouncing the mathematical appropriation of our ornaments.
A series of wallpaper details (Bourgoin, 1973)
Our workshop is precisely a testament to a cultural construction of mathematics: Create the object, mould it from your culture, your art, religion, philosophy, and future. Mathematics will reveal themselves if they’re there.
‘Recreating Islamic Geometry’ will be held on 13/09/2025 from 2-4:30pm, in collaboration with Words and Actions for Piece at 58 Ratcliffe Terrace, EH9 1ST.
“Everybody must design – after all, that is the best way to avoid being designed by others”
What determines value in a neo-liberal marketplace? “The Loveseat” offers an answer to this question. Built as a modification of Enzo Mari’s ‘P-chair,’ the materials were sourced from the streets of Edinburgh, made out of scrap wood and screws. It’s value is determined by the cultural relevance of its constituent materials, sourced from the city, for the city.
The P-chair was part of a wider project by Mari called “Autoprogettazione”, roughly translated to “Self-Design”. Through this project, Mari attempted to encourage greater consumer criticism by teaching everyday people to design items of furniture, providing them with blueprints of basic chairs, tables and beds. Users were encouraged to modify the blueprints to suit their own environment; through this process, they would develop a taste in design, allowing them to make more informed decisions when buying furniture. As Mari puts it himself; ‘How can form be detached from value and instead be firmly associated to content?’ This sparks a further question; What determines value in the current market? On one side of the spectrum, value is driven by predictability through standardisation. Part of what makes IKEA so comforting is that we don’t have to imagine what a room could look like – the catalogue does it for us. The convenience of ready-made furniture tends to outweigh the lack of individuality that can come from standardised living.
“If people were to make an object with their own hands, a vase, a shoe, a chair, probably, they would be more aware. They would improve their taste” – Enzo Mari
On the other side of the spectrum, furniture can act as status symbols. A Wassily chair can act as a signifier that you ‘understand design,’ placing you in a unique group of people who recognise your status as a person with high taste. Ironically, Mari points out that the majority of participants treated his designs in this way, writing letters to the effect of; “I like them very much, I have a holiday house on the Rocky mountains… I like the rustic style very much and I am making all the pieces for my chalet.” This type of reaction values his furniture on attributes outwith the actual design, pushing aside the quality of the object itself and instead centring the surface level aesthetic qualities of the end product.
The initial drive for my project was fuelled by this investigation of the relationship between the consumer value and the design value of everyday objects. Often, the cost and value of furniture is not measured in relation to the product itself; the environmental and social importance of the constituent materials are not counted towards the overall value. We can imagine an alternative value system that places furniture with locally sourced materials that respond to their immediate context at the top of the pyramid. Through using locally sourced materials, the end product acts as a reflection of the place it’s from. In this way, local culture can be entrenched through design.
The use of found materials in the design and construction of the Loveseat speaks to this ambition. A large proportion of these materials are construction waste, which tells a snippet of a story about material streams in Edinburgh. With construction already being the largest contributor to material waste in the UK, and with the Labour Government’s ambition to build 1.4 million new homes by 2029, it is imperative that we ask ourselves how we will manage this waste. Given the scale of waste produced, it is unlikely that one bench can solve the issue. Instead, the Loveseat acts as a statement of intent, showing that waste does not have to be a negative term; without waste, the Loveseat would not exist. This bench is not only a redefinition of waste as a resource, but also transparent reflection of the city it came from, with each material acting as a chapter in the story of its fabrication.
The Loveseat will be exhibited at the TROGLOTOPIANS, a collective exhibition installation exploring alternative ways of viewing the city. The exhibition will be at an underpass on the Restalrig Cycle Path on 20/07/2025.
“Everyone has a desire to create, even if they say they’re not an artist.”
This is a transcript from an interview in December 2024 between Arley Stuffins and Tilda Bull, our workshop and events leader. Enjoy!
A: Hello Matilda.
M: Hello Arley.
A: We’re gonna start with the basic introductions about you as a scavenger. So, what materials are you usually working with? And what’s your favourite? Tell us a bit about that.
M: My practice is quite varied; I dabble in a lot of things. But I’d say the revolving and encompassing theme is just using the things I find around me. It’s just that I’m a bit of a hoarder and I hate throwing things away. So it’s just me thinking of ways I can repurpose things in my life.
A: Yeah, with papermaking being quite a big part of your practice, and repairing clothes as well.
M: Yeah I got into papermaking because as an illustrator, doing so many sketches and life drawing- you end up with stacks and stacks of paper and nothing to do with it.
A:Make more!
M: Exactly! And with Delan being an architect, the amount of paper that man was producing. We were thinking ‘what can we do with it all?’ Make more! Print on it. Once you’re done, rip it up again, make more paper!
A: It’s got a nice quality to it as well, the finished paper: a little rough and ready. Nice to draw on?
M: Yeah! I’ve been perfecting my recipe. When I first started it was a bit too absorbent, but I put in a bit of starch and sorted that out.
A: Is that what we’re settling on for favourite material then? Homemade paper?
M:Yeah, that or I love a bit of MDF. It’s got a soft spot in my heart. Also MDF comes pre-reused, made of reconstituted scrap wood. Big fan. Find it on the side of the road, carve a little design, Bob’s your uncle.
A: Well that leads us well into our second question. Challenging the normal life cycle of materials that you get in industry, where they generate a huge amount of waste, and single use products. What makes second hand materials special to you? Where do you find them?
M: Oooh. It’s not something I consciously think about. I’ve grown up in a household where my mum and my granny both refuse to throw anything away so I think maybe it’s genetic.
A: My Grandpa had a similar thing of keeping a smaller milk bottle and decanting from the larger milk bottle into the smaller one, that he’d wash 3 times every time he reused it. Keeping old spatulas and tying them round pieces of string. Rationing isn’t it, wartime mindset.
M: You’d think we were still rationing with how my mum behaves. She makes rugs from our old pants and socks. She makes beautiful designs- you wouldn’t know it was my pants.
A: But now I know, and everyone knows 😮
And where do you find the materials?
M: Just anywhere and everywhere.
A: You seem to attract them
M: Yeah they just fall into my hands
A: Do you ever go skip diving?
M: Occasionally, but I think there’s almost too much choice in a skip. I already have a lot of stuff- I don’t have space for skip sized objects in my life. My current room size does not permit that.
A: How did you first get involved with ScavCo? How did you hear about them?
M: I’d been seeing what the ScavCo gang were up to on the interwebs, and then Arley recommended me to them as a papermaking messiah. We spent quite a long time building a whole set up. Building a tank from old covid perspex screens, and moulds and deckles from old picture frames. Usually DIY papermaking is on a small scale, but we were trying to make sheets larger than A2 – which took some trial and error. It took lots of perfecting to get a nice, even piece of paper. There were lots of sheets that never made the cut, never made it off the mesh.
A: It’s interesting thinking about how you reused the Covid screens for the tank – I wonder how much research has been done into the actual material use during Covid. Umpteen screens were made, now they’re sitting around catching dust.
A: Linking back to ScavCo, and what’s coming up – let’s hear a bit more about the workshops – about the ones that have been run and then potential future workshops.
M: My first ScavCo workshops were actually FOR other ScavCo members – skill sharing in a way – teaching them how to make the paper, so that they, too could lead papermaking workshops. We ran a workshop week during august – we had papermaking, printmaking, paper weaving, and visible mending. They were drop-in workshops, and we got lots of walk-in traffic from the street, people poking their heads in to get in on the fun. We got a real range of people, from kids to elderly. My favourite are the people that proclaim they’re in a hurry, and can’t stay long – but 2 hours later they’re still intricately working on a masterpiece. It’s what makes me love running workshops – people are so interested and receptive- so grateful for having space to make. I miss it!
That leads on nicely… We’re hoping to start a workshop series, on a monthly basis. We want to teach valuable skills, teaching how to reuse things people already own. Things to have a life of their own.
A: A smaller, more practical thing, that can be easy for people to rattle off with things they have, doesn’t require any complex or heavy duty tool use.
M: Accessible making.
Bio-based paperOld picture frames, new paper making framesWorkshop with Digest StudiosPaper, mesh, screen and tank for Scavenger Collective’s June 2023 exhibitionPaper tank made out of old Covid screens
A: It would also be interesting to hear – What shaped your artistic vision? Who are your influences?
M: My main influences are always going to be my mum and my granny – my granny is incredible, the type who would survive an apocalypse – she eats roadkill and shit.
A: THE Scavenger
M: Once we were at the beach, out for a late night swim – and this shoal of fish had been chased into the bay by some larger fish i suppose – and suddenly there were fish fucking everywhere, thrashing in the water around us. Lots of them had become stranded along the beach, flopping on the sand – and all the other beach goers were valiantly throwing them back into the sea. Out comes my granny with a bucket, and starts collecting them, smashing their heads with a rock – then we had them for breakfast the next day. Maybe that’s where I get my scavenging instincts from. Back to more artistic thoughts – she’s also an incredible textile artist- spinning and weaving rugs. She’s very resourceful.
A: Tell me a bit more about your interests and advocacy outwith ScavCo. What issues lay close to your heart?
M: Most of my work is political in some sense. I make work that aligns with my personal values, oftentimes becoming political or environmental. Within that, the material I work with is dictated by what I find around me. Printing posters about strikes with MDF I found on the side of the road, running workshops using milk cartons and a pasta maker.
I feel strongly about arts accessibility and how the art world can often feel like an impenetrable little society we’re not allowed into. Anyone can make! It’s not that deep, humans are made to use our hands! Everyone has a desire to create, even if they say they’re not an artist.
When I lead workshops I try to provide a really clear materials list, and use things that would be easy to source – I’m always thinking how
people could replicate it at home. And it’s wonderful to receive messages from people actually going away and doing it for themselves!
A:Make! Make! Make!
“A lot of people who come into the workshops say ‘I’m not creative, I couldn’t possibly…’ Then they come out with the most beautiful creations! “
A: Moving forward into the next stage of ScavCo, what are you excited for?
M: I’m excited to get back into leading workshops, I’ve really missed it. As soon as I put on a workshop, I want to do them all the time! It’s so energising – I learn so much every time from the people who attend. I’m looking forward to creating this space. Also making more myself – I’ve got a bit out of practice, and setting aside the time to just… make! I’m seeing the importance of finding the time, and not feeling like I should be doing something else.
A: Making for the purpose of making.
M: It’s not about the product, it’s about the process of making.
A: it’s nice to hear about your workshop philosophy, and bringing it to a wider audience of people who maybe haven’t thought about making in this way before.
M: Yeah! A lot of people who come into the workshops say – I’m not creative… I couldn’t possibly…Then they come out with the most beautiful creations! I’ve been missing the beautiful quiet of a group of people working away – letting their hands take over.
A: This is for people new to ScavCo, how would you start out scavenging? Any words of wisdom or sage advice?
M: Just be a hoarder haha never throw anything away and eventually things will find their place! No, that’s terrible advice… I think just look at your surroundings, always see potential in the materials around you. For me it’s also about convenience, I hate spending money on unnecessary things, if I can find it around me. Arley laughs at me but I carry all my pens and stationary around in a bread bag. It works!
(in blue) form a pentagon in an 
