Erin Smith | Forming with the Living: An intuitive display of bio-design experiments using SCOBY as material

 
Forming with the Living is an experimental combination of the futuristic practice of bio-design and the 19-20th century Arts and Crafts Movement. It showcases experimentation and a hand-crafted hanging lampshade made with the biomaterial SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). Arts and Crafts began in opposition to the start of the Industrial Revolution, which automated the creation of products to maximize profit over time, quality, and individuality. With Arts and Crafts, artisans and master craftsmen were able to bring back quality and truth to natural materials, reminding the world how meaningful product consumption is. In today’s society, we are now dealing with the detrimental environmental effects of overconsumption and rapid mass production. Concerned designers have started turning towards working with nature and the living to find material alternatives that are not so harsh on the environment. This project ultimately shows what the future entails as designers more strongly counteract poor consumer behavior that began with the Industrial Revolution while also showing the capabilities of SCOBY as a practical design material.
The project consists of 4 parts: Experimentation, Design, Live SCOBY, and Photos. Each part provides a different sensual experience and connection with the material. Altogether, the senses of touch, sight, and smell come together to show the possibility of a world where bio-materials such as SCOBY can become functional, practical products in everyday life. All of the experimentation, lampshade development, display construction with industrial accents, and growing of the SCOBY were done by hand using majority natural materials, keeping with the key principles of Arts and Crafts. The lampshade itself boasts a mushroom shape, which is also in line with the Arts and Crafts principle of including nature motifs in designs. The images displayed show the textures of SCOBY in different phases of drying to highlight the changes in texture and form the material takes on.
By combining together master craftsmanship, industrial accents, natural design ideals, and the usage of bio-materials, the final installation is a look into the future potential of sustainable product design, with a nod to the Arts and Crafts Movement which is where the idea of truth to materials in design began. While we may never get rid of the mass production and overconsumption mindsets started by the Industrial Revolution and posing detrimental environmental effects, we can start creatively using renewable resources that nature provides as inspiration to bring awareness to the importance of a future of sustainable design.