HANDMADE PLASTIC
2017
Plastics are easy to use, versatile, durable and cheap material group. Therefore, the industry tend to use it frequently and in wasteful ways. Recycling is neither optimal, since the process requires vast energy consumption. The project ‘Handmade Plastic’ was developed in order to pull out the usage of plastics from the exclusivity of the industry, to initiate local recycling process and to explore the material’s advantages within the craft world.
Since craft is based on the tradition of local ingredients, the project ties down the world of plastics with the world of woodwork - practically and aesthetically. The advantages of working with plastics were revealed thanks to a DIY plastic injection machine, which was developed on ‘Precious Plastic’ project, and with various molds, made of materials and techniques originated in woodwork tradition.
‘Handmade Plastic’ uses the virtues of the material - such as its flow capacity - to create new and particularly durable connectors within woodwork. Using formwork and formica molds, singular plastic surfaces, made by hand, were fabricated.
‘Handmade Plastic’ generates a new plastic experience: now, the familiar material has relations to the tradition of craft and surfaces which are willing to be touched. Those reveal newly explored forms, options and virtues within the world of plastics.
