For this project, Alan and I are interested in exploring Bioplastic as a beautiful object. As such, we have been thinking about ways to sort of elevate this material into something that could be considered gorgeous. Furthermore, when we pull something from natural resources, we are able to look at how sourcing can influence our outcomes. We want to explore how using different waters can change the bioplastic look.
Option one is below. We want to make a box that has 3 slots where a sphere can be rested. We plan to make 3 spheres made of bioplastics (with water from different locations around the area). The user can then situate them into the holes to refract light in unique ways.
A version B of this may be a lamp that uses a rotating bioplastic mold to refract light differently as it spins.
The second project, and more likely the one we will go with is a 3 picture, picture frame. We will add a backlight for the frame and instead of photos, we will use well cut strips of bioplastic. The idea here is recontextualizing the picture frame. We use them now as ways to store our fondest memories, they take snapshot of time, place, and person. If we replace those photos with sheets of bioplastic, we are potentially able to capture a snapshot of a location, its water composition, and remind the user of a time gone by. A time where we didn't need to have conversations about plastic, the ocean, and confronting our relationship with earth. This is not to say that we shouldn't willingly and excitedly embrace and push forward from where we are, but this frame represents a product of the Anthropocene.
I think I read these in the perfect order, I think: Interspecies Architecture, Hidden life of Trees, Plastiglomerate. What I loved about the readings from this week was that they focused on confronting what we think we know about the earth. Interspecies Architecture postulates that "to live is therefore always to occupy, to invade a foreign space and to negotiate what a shared space could be." They propose a way in which we interact with our world. Are we simply doing what any other species (given the level of intellect and access to resources we have) would do? It also explains the interplay on how everything takes up space. One thing works with another thing that relies on a third thing. Nature is interconnected. We can no longer think about our world the way we used to. This is further expanded upon in Hidden Life of Trees where we learned deeply about how trees interact with one another. It is fascinating to discover that trees can feel, taste, and communicate with one another. What is more fascinating is the way that they have "loner" trees, which implies some semblance of personality and socialization. The last reading (the best in the class so far, EASILY), reckons with the way that earth has responded to humans. Plastiglomerate is described not as something that we created, but something that the Anthropocene has allowed the earth to birth. The way that the earth is adapting and assimilating our impact into its beauty is absolutely stunning. I loved this reading and cannot wait to talk about it in class, but for now I want to just wrap up. I think that these readings were key in making me critically examine what I think about the earth and how I respond to it.
I did the regular recipe first, but I already knew I wanted to have something more firm than gelatinous, so I only used 1 tablespoon of glycerin. However, I wanted to test using molds, so I thought that would help with the form too. I unfortunately didn't have the best tools to fill the mold, but the hemisphere was interesting. In the future, I would use a syringe for this part of the process. I do not have one.
After a day, I didn't like how the spheres/hemispheres were drying, so I put it in the oven for about an hour at a low enough temperature that I thought it wouldn't burn. The image on the right shows the result. The odd pattern I think is due to the mold (it is present on both), but it created a dry, flakey feeling shell around the hemisphere. It was interesting, but not a particularly satisfying feeling (not that it needs to be, to be honest).
The other recipe was the regular one, but I added Turmeric to dye it yellow. I wish I remembered that I had blue spirulina as I would have used that. This batch had more glycerin in it, but it dried quite firm because it was such a thin layer. ALSO, it turns out that the bioplastic can and will fuse to parchment paper, so make sure to add release.