Material

Cellulose

By

Made in

Biodegradable 260 Bioplastic 83 Circular 242 Composite 109 Fibre 76 Paper 28 Plant-based 189 Recycled 137 Regenerative 58 Bioplastic 9 Cellulose 12 Charcoal powder 2

Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose

Photos: Austėja Platūkytė

Experimental Seating Object

This research is a reinterpretation of biomaterials, while creating bio-plastiglomerate objects which will disappear into future geological layers leaving no negative impact or synthetic man-made materials and could be an invisible example of a short period of positive human impact for the future species on Earth.

In this research, the artist seeks to rethink the relationship between humans and nature, to raise questions about today’s scientific information and speculate the future material possibilities where art can be a guide for how to live and think in the Anthropocene. The project raises fundamental questions about how creative practices can be focused on social, cultural, and political ideas that will only remain in the geological layers of the Earth after the Sixth Extinction and how we can use natural materials to create an alternative, unpredictable future scenario.

The purpose of this research is to answer the main question of what it means for art and design to face the Anthropocene and to follow the biomaterial transformations to observe the flows and traces we will leave behind as a species.

Making process

This experimental seating object is made of only cellulosic materials and metal wire to make the object stable while balancing the functional versus the non-functional. The object is shaped by hand using recycled cellulose fibre mass and coated with cellulose-based bioplastic mixed with organic charcoal powder to make it black. The cellulose-based bioplastic makes the object waterproof and protects it against possible damage, alongside keeping it organic and biodegradable. Due to natural processes and micro-organisms, the object will again become a part of nature, forming new material layers, and will cause no harm to the environment.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.

Ingredients

Metal wire, recycled cellulose fibre, cellulose-based bioplastic, organic charcoal powder

Credits

AUSTEJA PLATUKYTE | CLUSTER CRAFTS 2020