Bridgestone becomes an artform in creative collaboration
Bridgestone’s commitment to innovation has taken a creative turn, after its tyre products became an artform at a contemporary UK art exhibition for the first time.
London-based artist Madeleine Ruggi has transformed the sights, sounds and materials of Bridgestone’s Bulldog retread plant in Bourne into a powerful body of work featured in the exhibition, Soft Landing, which was open to the public at Palmer Gallery last month. It is set for another outing again during October during Frieze Art Fair week in the capital.
The exhibition includes a 44-minute immersive sound sculpture titled Distress Purchase, two wall-based sculptures, and a print, made using materials sourced from the plant including retread rubber and some original audio recordings taken on-site.
Madeleine visited Bridgestone’s Lincolnshire factory in 2024, where she was given a full tour of the retread process by the team, including plant manager Dan Edwards. Inspired by the textures, machinery and conversations she encountered, she left with lengths of tread rubber, hours of field recordings, and a fresh artistic vision.
‘The manufacturing environments I visit bring to my attention fascinating materials that are often taken for granted but which crucially underpin modern life; materials such as rubber tyre tread or industrial hardware. These become part of the works I create, and I invite others to notice them too.” Madeleine said. “Visiting the factory and meeting the team at the plant in person gave me valuable insight into the detail behind production processes, the highly skilled labour that goes into creating such products, and how remarkably sculptural the tread can be.”
Well-known for exploring the unseen infrastructures behind global trade networks, from cargo-ships to lorry-based haulage systems, Madeleine’s work brings a new perspective to industrial settings and their place in modern society.
Andy Mathias, Bridgestone’s Head of Marketing, praised Madeleine’s efforts: “We’ve always believed in the beauty of our retread process, but never quite as literally as this. To see our products interpreted in such a way is hugely rewarding, and something we have never come across before. This is the first time Bridgestone’s Bulldog retread materials have featured in a public art installation, marking it a unique collaboration and one we’ve been extremely impressed by.”
Soft Landing is free to attend and will be displayed again in London in October during Frieze Art Fair week, with more details to be announced soon.
For more information about the tyre exhibit and Madeleine’s work, visit www.madeleineruggi.com or click on https://palmergallery.co.uk/exhibitions/26-soft-landing-exhibition-10/overview/
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About Bridgestone in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Bridgestone in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Bridgestone EMEA) is the regional Strategic Business Unit of Bridgestone Corporation, a global leader in tyres and sustainable mobility solutions.
Headquartered in Zaventem (Belgium), Bridgestone EMEA employs more than 14,000 people and conducts business in 35 countries across the region.
Bridgestone offers a diverse portfolio of premium tyres, tyre technologies and advanced mobility solutions. The company’s vision is to provide social and customer value as a sustainable solutions company. The Bridgestone E8 Commitment is a broad, global corporate commitment that clearly defines the value the company is promising to deliver to society, our customers and future generations in eight focus areas; Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease and Empowerment. These provide a compass to guide strategic priorities, decision making and actions throughout every area of the business.
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