Project Inspiration
Nicole Gdula: created a tote bag by using the ironing plastics method
Issey Miyake: I really like the geometric style of his bag designs
Material + Methods Influence
- I referenced Nicole Gdula’s bag for the sewing technique of creating a bag since this was my first time trying to create a wearable from scratch. This included sewing the sides and bottom of two sheets of fabric together before flipping them inside out so that the seams aren’t visible.
- Professor Marcela introduced me to Up-Fuse, who also use the iron technique to create bags. I was originally planning on sewing geometric patterns on top of my bag, but the Up-Fuse bags simply fused different color plastic layers on top, which made a lot more sense.
- The ironing experiment we did in class was very helpful in guiding the temperature I used to fuse the plastic together.
- Since I was using the ironing technique, I wanted to use plastic bags. I also really liked the idea of using plastic bags to create another more durable bag. The plastic material I ended up using, however, came pretty much entirely from the plastic packaging that holds non-fragile products that are being delivered. The reason for this was because I wanted the base color to be black, and in an effort to match types of plastics when fusing, this same kind of packaging plastic was consistently used for different colors as well.
- In terms of material collection, I used some plastic packaging found around in the classroom from what people brought in, as well as from my trash stash I was collecting in my apartment (that I keep in anticipation for any projects for this class, haha).
Environmental Facts Research
In my capstone paper I explore the effectiveness of environmental activist art in influencing its audience’s behavior. One study, conducted by Sommer and Klöckner, finds that works that have the most potential to inspire proenvironmental behavior are ones that, rather than only focusing on raising awareness for a problem, also offer a solution for that problem. One piece of artwork that fell into this category was Cicia Hartmann’s Mur Vegetal, a large flower wall made from upcycled material.
What made this work successful was that it showed that waste could be produced into something beautiful, serving as an inspiration for others to do the same. Hence, with this midterm project the goal was to make the bag as nice as possible (with my beginner wearable crafting skills) to show that plastic material can indeed be transformed, and serve as inspiration for what people can do with their plastic waste.
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