How many shapes are hidden in a plastic bottle? Have you ever tried to break it down? Rings, cylinders, cones, hemispheres, spirals, towers, domes and others will unexpectedly come out of it… Then, these elements can be combined together in order to create more complex structures. Let’s play with them, without already having a specific goal in mind. The shapes themselves will guide us, revealing unexpected paths. It is a dialogue between us and matter, a mutual interaction in which the material is not forced in our “a priori” idea.
Some of the bottle’s pieces can be used as a module, that is a repeated element forming more complex structures. For example, I made a curtain among trees (you can see below) using a plastic ring as a module.
The interaction between colored plastic and natural or artificial light can generate interesting, almost magical effects.
After having explored “the rules of its grammar”, we will be able to use the material in a creative way, consistent either with its nature and our purpose in a specific context. Here is a short example: some pencil flowers I designed to celebrate the birthday of a public Library.
I did not have in my mind images of real flowers to be copied: the shape of the final flowers was inspired by the shapes and characteristics of the various parts of the bottles, recombining them. In many cases, the cap was drilled and used as a connector between the pencil and the plastic part.
What is your favorite one? Many other species are waiting to be discovered… You are very welcome to send a picture of new flowers, in order to broaden a common Plastic Herbarium. Enjoy!
#thegrammarofmatter
