The Heirloom scroll aims at incorporating plastic waste into the core of its design in order to make a product that generations to come will not want to part with. In our design, we make use of plastic bags and melted bottle caps to give families a timeless heirloom that they can add on to endlessly/continuously.
Our Heirloom scroll has two components to it, each targeting the different aspects of this assignment. The first component pertains to the timeless aspect. Our scroll consists of a short paragraph/message at the top of each sheet. The message on the first sheet is meant to be something that one family will pass onto the next generation. Below this message, the initials of each member of the family can be found. This allows future generations to familiarize themselves with their ancestors. Each time this scroll is passed down to the next generation a new sheet will be added with a new message from that generation’s family members along with their initials. Thus creating an artifact, the Heirloom scroll, that’ll never lose value but rather appreciates over time as it has sentimental worth. The second component of our Heirloom scroll targets the recycled plastics aspect of this assignment. Within our project we have made use of the pressing technique to fuse different layers of plastic bags together forming the canvas for the messages. Each generation has their own sheet of layered/fused plastic that serves as a canvas which they will fuse at the end of the scroll prior to passing it down to the next generation. The ends of the scroll have been made using beams that were formed from shredded plastic bottle caps. We made use of the extruder machine to melt the shredded plastic bottle caps. The melted plastic was squeezed into a cylindrical mold, forming beams for the ends of our scrolls. The bottom beam within our scroll is removable to allow for a new sheet of fused plastic to be added by each generation.
Research Timeline
- One of the very first techniques we began experimenting with was the fusing of plastic bags using an iron and some baking paper. This method required us to place 3-5 layers of plastic bags on top of one another with some baking paper as before the top and bottom layers. Throughout our process we faced some difficulties separating the baking paper from the plastic bags so we began using a spray to help alleviate this issue
- Pressing plastic was another method we experimented with in order to create a hold at the end of the second beam, however we faced issues in finding a way to screw in the pressed plastic in the ends of the beam. We kept brainstorming and thought of drilling screws into the beam, or fusing it into the plastics while it was still mildly melted/hot. With all of these attempts we realized that it is much tougher than expected to incorporate the screw.
- Additionally, we used the extruder machine that was meant to form our beams for our scrolls. This process turned out to be quite effective, though it took a couple of attempts the end result was a full beam that we sized to our desire.
- Finally, we also needed to come up with an effective method of forming the family tree on the scroll itself. Our idea was to use a laser to engrave the initials of the various family members however this was not possible as we did not have access to a laser. The idea however was that the thick layers of black plastic bags served as the core while a white layer of plastic coated the top of our sheets so when the laser cut into the white layer the text could be seen in black.
Personal Views
When it comes to our personal views, we believe that though this is just an idea/prototype in which we are reusing plastic, it is a step closer towards a better and more sustainable world. Creating something that will be passed down from generation to generation out of plainly trashed plastics was a challenging task. However, the techniques that we have learned in class made our efforts to create something everso seamless possible. From the plastic bag press techniques to the plastic press in the oven, making use of these various creative machinery in the lab made it possible for us to make single-use plastic timeless. With the reading: “ACCUMULATION: THE MATERIAL POLITICS OF PLASTIC (MADE TO BE WASTED: PET AND TOPOLOGIES OF DISPOSABILITY)” we realized that all these plastics (plastic bags, bottles, bottle caps, etc) are made for the purpose of single-use after which they would become trash. However, throughout this class we have consistently stood against the use of single-use plastics and rather have managed to utilize what others would characterise as “trash” to make an heirloom for generations. We would love to have this as an heirloom for our respective families as it would be truly remarkable to recall all of our ancessorts with an anecdote in the form of a message.
Sketches
Vision
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