Adventurous Upcrafting Ventures

Since 2015, the Research Institute of Organic Treasures
(R.I.O.T.) has combined fermentation practices and social
experimentation in Hong Kong to give biological byproducts
from human and urban metabolisms a regenerative
purpose. Here putrescible wastes emitted from our kitchens,
toilets, and bodies are considered our most foundational
design material that contributes to a “world of eaters”
(DuPuis, 2015). In this applied design work, the concept of
upcycling is socio-materially extended into shared forms
of upskilling, and therefore referred to as upcrafting. In
an effort to combine practical outcomes with long-term
welfare creation, R.I.O.T. brings together laypersons, natural
scientists, and artists, into open-ended explorations of
alternative knowledge and change making, or what Melanie
DuPuis calls “extended peer communities” (ibid: 155).