# Project Description

Running on Empty

Isabel Ulatowski

Summary

Final work

Isabel Ulatowski is a visual artist and designer whose work explores how environmental pollutants affect human health, particularly in relation to the industrial systems that continue to produce them. Drawing on critical theory, her practice uses design to highlight contradictions within these systems, focusing on the gap between technological progress and its human cost. By confronting intimate realities, Isabel invites reflection on the embodied crisis of living within compromised environments.

Isabel Ulatowski is a visual artist and designer whose work explores how environmental poll...

College Central Saint Martins

Course MA Material Futures

Graduation year 2025

This project leverages the stereotype that men are more likely to engage with car culture while highlighting the environmental impact of tire wear. Tire particles are a significant source of microplastic pollution, with studies estimating that tire wear contributes up to 30% of global microplastic pollution. These microplastics enter the body through contact, inhalation, and ingestion, releasing hormone-disrupting chemicals. One critical consequence is male infertility, as these pollutants impair sperm motility and viability. By prioritising men in this conversation, we could drive essential advancements in funding, research, and policy - ultimately benefiting all genders.

Final work

Research and process

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This project leverages the stereotype that men are more likely to engage with car culture while highlighting the environmental impact of tire wear. Tire particles are a significant source of microplastic pollution, with studies estimating that tire wear contributes up to...

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