As a sculpture assistant for the project, artist Nori Tsouloucha has been working with Nelson’s paper waste. This post describes their research, discoveries and personal thoughts about the material after working intensively with it for the last four months.

Paper was once part of a living, breathing organism that could grow and adapt to its environment-something that nourished other organisms and provided them with shelter. It used to be responsive and intelligent; communicated with others of its kind; and survived within an ecosystem. I wonder whether it can retain some of its “alive” qualities when it’s in the form of a receipt, or a user manual.
On a more abstract note, I wonder whether the words imprinted onto one piece of paper retain their essence when they are mushed into pulp, composited and recycled into new paper sheets. Does it matter, for example, that a kid’s math homework was mixed with a prescription drug’s list of adverse effects, co-creating a sheet of paper that was used to build a helmet? While sorting through papers to recycle, their written contents of each sheet stood out to me as intricate stories and complex ideas that were destroyed and reconstructed.

In the process of working with paper, it became apparent that the material is unpredictable, complicated, dynamic, and dominant. Hands-on experimentation was essential in my journey towards understanding its qualities. A lot of trial and error lead to small discoveries (like which type of paper requires water to be moulded into shape, how ink and highly processed paper react within a pulp mixture, the direction in which the paper fibres tear) that were essential to my attempt to make paper strong and durable, and able to carry weight. One of my main endeavors was recycling paper. This entailed breaking down used paper into its fibres and creating a new pulp mixture, from which recycled sheets were pulled. Another important part of the process involved treating paper as textile, creating threads and strips that were woven together, and giving shape to rectangles of “fabric”.

Paper seemed to have a mind of its own, sculpting it involved movement, repetition, persistence and bodily commitment. Some of the tools that I relied on throughout this investigation were water and time, hands and touch, and a swaying body.

Water aids with the process of softening and reshaping the paper or its fibres. This requires plenty of time to allow for the creation to dry after it has been processed. Bare hands were necessary to feel the qualities of each paper type, manipulate it delicately and mold it into shape. A swaying body practicing an almost choreographed movement was needed to pull new sheets of paper out of the watery tankful of recycled paper pulp.

Throughout this process, my perception of paper shifted from a mundane material with which I submissively interacted daily to a vigorous synergy working towards a common goal.

Paper is not as environmentally innocent as it may appear. It has significant effects on deforestation, energy use, air and water pollution, and waste. Recycling paper is relatively easy and causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making new paper. Yet 55% of global paper supply, which amounts to 231,000,000 tons of paper annually, comes from newly cut trees. This causes unsustainable deforestation as the paper industry uses between 30-40% of industrial wood trade globally.
Paper making requires enormous amounts of energy, about 9,400 kW per 1 ton of paper fiber, while recycled paper uses about 6,440 kW per ton. For comparison, the average washing machine uses about 0.3 kW per wash. The pulp and paper industry also consumes more water than any other industrial activity in post-industrial economies.
The wastewater is key, as it holds chemicals like chlorine, sulfur, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide that are used in the process of creating and bleaching paper pulp. Chlorine forms dioxins that are classified as persistent organic pollutants, meaning that they take a long time to break down and accumulate in living organisms where they may disrupt the development of secondary sex characteristics, cause chronic respiratory disorder, cardiac problems, skin irritation. At the same time, the wastewater containing complex pollutants is released to the environment having a significant impact on aquatic life, especially affecting their endocrine system.
The air is not safe either, as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide are emitted during paper production. These chemicals contribute to air pollution, cause acid rain and constitute major greenhouse gasses.
On top of that, the inks used by conventional printers, laser prints and on glossy magazines may use toxic heavy-metal inks to produce vivid results. Toner ink, which most of us use for our at-home prints, is a mixture of iron oxide and polymers like styrene, polyester resin, or other plastic compounds. Paper continues to harm the environment even after its disposal; it accounts for about 26% of total waste in landfills, and the figure is expected to double by 2060.

Back in the 70’s, the effects of human activity on climate change were kept secret from the public, with scientists being bribed for their silence by Exxon, the US’s biggest oil company. When research became publicly available, more than a decade later, Exxon poured enormous amounts of money into campaigns aiming to discredit the scientific findings and deem them controversial. In recent times, with the spread of knowledge about the environmental crisis, this type of organized silencing and misinformation is no longer viable. However, major businesses, governments, industries and the rich continue to mislead the public, avoid accountability and preach the importance of individual responsibility. While it is important to be conscious of our lifestyle and the effects of our habits, we should also be aware of the big players and their indifference. Green capitalism and greenwashing refer to companies or governments that make a show of ‘going green’ in inefficient and misleading manners, ultimately gaining more profit with no actual decrease in environmental harm. Eco-capitalism is no different than Exxon bribing scientists for their company’s profit and to the planet’s detriment. It took more than 50 years, countless protests and collective action for Exxon to finally be taken to court for their climate crimes and public misinformation. How long before all these companies, governments and institutions are forced to take accountability for their actions?
Further reading:
- Sustainability challenges in the paper industry https://www.aiche.org/chenected/2016/10/sustainability-challenges-paper-industry
- Chlorine free paper https://calrecycle.ca.gov/paper/chlorinefree/
- Eco-capitalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-capitalism
- Green capitalism https://89initiative.com/green-capitalism-greenwashing-over-sustainability/
- The Myth of Green Capitalism https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/green-capitalism-myth-no-market-solution-to-climate-change-by-katharina-pistor-2021-09
Nori Tsouloucha is an Athens based artist who creates performances and multimedia works around queer and feminist narratives and politics. Their personal work is based on research, identity, and communal embodied experience. Nori also works in documentation and video editing of artistic happenings and productions. They have worked as assistant director in some of Jennifer Nelson’s previous work. They received their Visual Arts degree with the highest distinction and multiple scholarships from the American College of Greece.