RPB Table, Recycled Plastic Bags, Steel. 2009.
This project was created in response to the Great Pacific Trash Gyre
and the increasing prevalence of convenience items in our daily lives. The use of plastic throw-away items pose many different problems for the environment in terms of resource extraction (oil), manufacturing process (chemicals), product life-span, and recyclability. I focused specifically on plastic bags because improper disposal harms animals and ecosystems, adds unnecessary strain to municipal trash sites, and less than 2% are recycled every year. To put it in perspective, the relatively small local paper, the Providence Journal uses 150,000 LDPE bags every day. As such, I decided to use their colorful LDPE bags as the basis for my project.
Through extensive research and trial and error, I cast plastic bags in steel molds using heat and compression. This process was also adapted using an iron to fuse the bags into sheets, which were then used to upholster chair cushions, as well as the seating material for another chair.
RPB Chair, Walnut, Reclaimed Maple, Recycled Plastic Bags. 2009.
RPB Chair Prototype #1, Plywood, Recycled Plastic Bags. 2008.
Collection of samples.