“You might need your sunglasses” announces Tony Knoll, as he leads us into the outdoor space at the back of his Fitzroy shop/art space, PanelPop. “It’s like Antarctica out here”. It’s a blazing hot Melbourne day, the blinding white is waste Polystyrene not snow. Mountains of the stuff. Knoll is every bit the modern day Shackleton – boldly treading new ground, his cultural innovation embodying pioneers’ spirit. Knoll’s Nimrod a ramshackle alternative to traditional picture framing, waters he sailed for many years prior to the PanelPop lightbulb moment. Combining salvaged timber, repurposed Polystyrene and a cement-based canvas, Knoll’s panels are fetching in a knackered classic car sense – full of character and poise, rough around the edges, lived-in. Knoll’s canvases become part of the artwork, imperfections turn virtues.
Back to Antarctica, Tony is talking us through the make-up of his panels, a member of the team sifting through bags upon bags of freshly dropped off Polystyrene – the City of Yarra hand over all of their theirs to Knoll. The landfill-bound synthetic polymer is the key element in a PanelPop, reclaimed wood encloses a Polystyrene block, a ceramic-like surface provides the canvas element – upon which art and photographs are printed. The PanelPop inventor is passionate about doing something positive for our environment: carbon-neutral until the gypsum-based surface is applied, he’s working alongside its Melbourne-based supplier to limit, potentially neutralise, carbon inputs at this stage. A green, good-looking alternative to the traditionally wasteful and staid world of picture framing.
It’s not just eco-matters that occupy Knoll’s thoughts, our Shackleton brims with an enthusiasm for transposing what he calls the ‘music business model’ to the art world. Scoffing at the notion of limited print runs, the young (disturbingly talented Jasper Margaritis is just 12 years-old) artists represented by PanelPop effectively have no limit on the amount they can make from handing over a design to be reprinted on panel after panel. Enthused is Tony Knoll about his young artists too, keen to motivate tweens and teens who may otherwise drop their pencils, pens and brushes as young adulthood descends. Workshops are regularly held in the Brunswick Street space, and what space to inspire young talent.
Printing onto Tony’s trailblazing panels is not limited solely to the young artists that PanelPop represents, nor the many local, national and international artists, illustrators and designers who have collaborated with Knoll – PanelPop is for the people. Promising photos to panels in just an hour, your latest selfie can be immortalised in stone. Out back, I sift through the Polystyrene piles, bust up panels littering Tony’s chaotic yard. There’s a definite whiff of the mad scientist to the PanelPop pioneer, broken panels are left to weather, a happy accident having yielded interesting results for the keen experimentalist.
“We’re creating this product that’s practically carbon-neutral, then shipping them around the world on planes, it just doesn’t make sense”. It don’t take an Antarctic research scientist to step inside Knoll’s mind. Expansion. Where? Anywhere with waste. Polystyrene destined for landfill, plentiful supply of unloved timber? Tony is a man on a mission, and with like-minded friends in Toronto and New York, there’s plenty new ground to be trod. Forward-thinking council prepared to divert waste from the landfill? Drop Tony a line. We’re rooting for this creative explorer to be pitching flags the world over…
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