Instructor: Hyojin Kwon

PLASTIC REIMAGINED material agency and circular design

“How do discarded materials shape the spaces we inhabit? In an epoch where digital processes and ecological crises intersect, this studio explores the latent possibilities of recycled plastics and glass—not as mere remnants of consumption but as agents and archives of contemporary life.”

prototyping plastic futures

Based on several DIY toolmaking precedents (particularly those by James Shaw and Che-Wei Wang) and the more typical extrusion and injection tools used in plastic manufacturing, I developed a general approach that involved attaching a custom-fabricated bracket and series of metal pipes to a mixing drill with a 1-inch auger drill bit to serve as the heating and mixing barrel. Then, I wired a heating circuit involving four barrel-heaters and a thermo-couple-based PID temperature control system, housed in a 3D-printed casing. Additionally, I 3D-printed a hopper to feed the ground plastic into the heating and mixing barrel. Finally, I drilled a hole in a capped nut to create the desired nozzle size, while running the power for the drill through a variable transformer that allowed me to precisely control the rotation of the auger.

Tool in hand, I began experiments with the plastic. I fine-tuned the desired temperature range (typically around 450 °F) and speed of extrusion. I found that despite the extruded plastic’s heat, it only weakly bonded cooled pieces of HDPE together, meaning any stopping points in fabrication would need to be deliberate, and reactivating the plastic’s bonding ability would mean the intervention of a heat gun. The plastic cooled quickly enough that some vertical movement was possible, but moving too slowly meant the plastic would not self-adhere. Massing strategies that maintained a close-knit, irregular pattern were most effective at creating structurally-sound solids, while weaving or braiding techniques allowed for lighter weight infill when weight-bearing was less of a concern. Crucially important was the introduction of a second hand extension like pliers which allowed for the manipulation of extruded threads without the use of gloves.

While planning for the fabrication of the Adirondack chair (discussed more in the next section), it became clear that the weight of the tool (approximately 20 pounds) made it an unwieldy tool to use completely free-handed. As such, in planning the fabrication process, I prioritized creating basic forms from melamine that would hold the correct dimensions and angles desired while allowing for the balancing of the tool either on one knee while sitting or on a block of wood or other ‘tripod’ while standing. Designs were hand sketched in pen on melamine to follow the correct dimensions modeled in Rhino3D, then were traced or ‘filled in’ by the tool. When fabrication had to be paused, the first step when it was resumed was to reactivate the necessary portion with the heat gun while the tool preheated. Finally, the mixing quality of the tool meant any color added would be mixed evenly throughout. In early tests, this resulted in drab, gray colors if any black plastic was introduced. Using this to my advantage, I sorted small amounts (about 20g) of solid colored pellets (red, blue, and yellow), creating a slow gradient as the primary-colored pellets mixed into the pure white base. In this way, the process of fabrication is not just visible in the gestures of the plastic, but in the change in colors over time.

toward a second material age

Aligned with my larger goals of gestural interaction with the HDPE, I sought to keep my Adirondack interpretation design close to home. The majority of the angles and dimensions are evocative of the original design given to us, the major exception being the consolidation of individual pieces into larger, flat masses. Engaging with themes of gesture, weaving, and the subsummation of parts into a whole, I sought to create an object with the same vague appearance of an Adirondack chair, something that might be recognized as adjacent to an Adirondack chair, but of such an unusual material expression that the original archetype becomes confused, or displaced.

By allowing the gestural quality of the HDPE extruded to be the primary visual draw, there can be a shift in observer’s focus from the overall effect of the material to details of fabrication. Hundreds of swirls, plaits, and braids can be identified and traced, until they duck into a crevice, or become a larger solid mass without being individually discernible. In this way, the conversation may shift from the idea of plastic as trash or a material that ‘must’ be dealt with, to a material that can be engaged with joyfully or curiously, that can produce a functional object while still obscuring its origins or lineage. Unlike early applications of plastic, which sought to closely emulate natural materials more cheaply or uniformly, I sought to create an expression of the material that felt unconstrained by the act of imitation. As I continued to experiment with the tool, I and the people I discussed the project with struggled to describe the material effect, relying heavily on analogy. The material effect was like “circus peanut candy,” “taffy,” or “toothpaste.” Of course, the actual material isn’t really like any of these things, but by being so unnatural, it compels the viewer to find some touchpoint with which to anchor it. In this way, the relatively simple design of the chair engages ideas of memory, obfuscation, and even some uncanniness, as familiar form clashes with unconventional materiality.

speculative representations