Rebecca Chesney

Conditions at Present co-commission between British Textile Biennial 2023, and the Harewood Craft Biennial 2024
Outdoor installation of 25 windsocks

Whether used as a temporary shelter for recreation or as a permanent home and place to live in times of crisis and displacement, a tent can provide an opportunity to sleep under the stars or be the difference between life and death in protecting you from the elements.
Until recently most tents were made from cotton canvas, but with continued development in fabric manufacture the majority are now made from other lightweight man-made materials (polyester, nylon or composite textiles) and mass production has made them relatively cheap to purchase.
However, this affordability and disconnection with the origin of items we buy has encouraged throwaway, wasteful habits. Thousands think nothing of buying a tent for temporary use at a festival, only to leave it behind before returning home. But what are the social and environmental costs of producing something so cheaply and used only once? Shouldn’t we question who the workforce are and the conditions under which they work and how much energy and resources are used in their making and transportation?

Reusing fabric from discarded and broken festival tents, I made a large scale kinetic sculpture co-commissioned for the British Textile Biennial 2023 and the Harewood Biennial 2024.


I gathered my materials in the aftermath of a festival, and along with a team of volunteers I worked with charity FWRD (Festival Waste Reuse and Diversion), who collect unbroken, usable tents and redistribute them to homeless and refugee support groups.


Conditions at Present installed at Harewood House, Yorkshire for the Harewood Biennial 2024

From a grid of poles with swivel arms, the windsocks fly overhead. They move and change direction together: hang still, flap, flutter, wave and strain in different strengths of wind.
Rather than predictive, the windsocks serve as an indicator of current conditions: a barometer of the climate crisis we are already facing.


Conditions at Present installed at Harewood House, Yorkshire for the Harewood Biennial 2024

Each windsock, made from waste festival tent fabric, is 1.5 m in length (total length of 2 m with straps), on poles 5 m tall.


Conditions at Present installed at Harewood House, Yorkshire for the Harewood Biennial 2024
Image: G Renshaw


Although this project is about recycling waste materials I wanted it to extend further than that and ask questions of the tent manufacturing industry making something so cheap and readily available that we consider it a throwaway item. But finding exactly where the workforce is based and the working conditions, or the origin of the fabrics has proved very difficult.
The labels from the tents I gathered don’t give much information:
Tent 100% polyester, Fly 100% polyester, Floor 100% polyethylene, Pole fibreglass , Made in China
But with no other information I’ve found it impossible to try and follow the supply chain back to source - it starts (and remains) with the company you bought your tent and goes no further back.

Polyester is a synthetic fibre derived from petroleum. Its light weight, durability and quick drying time has made it the most widely used fibre in the world for clothing, furnishings and many other uses. But polyester has significant negative impacts socially and environmentally during its production, use and disposal.
There is plenty of literature to plough through on the petrochemical industry, its political power and its negative effects on human and ecosystem health and polyester manufacture is part of this. Then the process of manufacturing polyester requires high amounts of energy, and although needing less water to produce than natural fibres it is considered highly polluting with heavy metals, toxic chemicals and plastic pollution (micro plastics) being released during any washing processes. And, if that’s not enough, it isn’t biodegradable and can stay in landfill for decades, if not hundreds of years.

And what about the workforce: in the oil refinery, the petrochemical factory, the polyester production plant and the tent manufacturing workshops? Are they exposed to unsafe practices, unhealthy conditions, unfair wages with little or no rights? Without knowing exactly where the tents are made, or the origin of the materials these questions remain unanswered.

All the tents I collected were made in China, so have travelled a vast distance (usually by sea) to get to the UK, then distributed onwards to the retailers who commissioned their manufacture.

All these things considered, the impact of a discarded tent is far deeper than just a recycling conundrum.


Conditions at Present installed at Towneley Hall, Lancashire for the British Textile Biennial 2023
Image: BTB


Conditions at Present installed at Towneley Hall, Lancashire for the British Textile Biennial 2023


Conditions at Present installed at Towneley Hall, Lancashire for the British Textile Biennial 2023


Conditions at Present installed at Towneley Hall, Lancashire for the British Textile Biennial 2023
Image: Huckleberry Films

A short film was made for BTB23 showing the making of Conditions at Present
Watch here

I was in conversation with Amber Butchart (dress and textile historian) for Episode 6 of Cloth Cultures along with Dr Mila Burcikova from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. We talked about the work made for BTB23, plus gardening, fashion seasons, bees and weeds.
Listen here

British Textile Biennial website
Harewood House website

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