The Great Experiment

In my design studio we were given the opportunity to partake in the TerraCycle Inc Bottle Cap Contest. Our challenge is to create an artifact out of reused, recycled plastic bottle caps. We are to use only recycled materials in the production of this artifact, and our studio has also required that we relate the product to the theme of the book Radical Simplicity. My brainstorming really took off from ideas from the assigned reading. From the book, I found that, utilizing sensible design, I should consider primitive needs with modern uses. My design focus centralized around the ideas of privacy, sense of "individual space," security, and multifunction. From this point my thinking moved from objects such as screens, room dividers, and blinds to textiles and materials. What if we could replace existing plastics and man made fibers with plastic made from recycled plastic bottle caps? I didn't feel that bottle caps in their native form would do such an idea justice so I went about attempting to alter their form to produce a more workable medium. Naturally, my project began with some serious dumpster-diving. With the help of map gas, a cast iron skillet, and a metal putty spatula, I was able to melt the bottle caps into a gooey, putty-like substance and mold them into a unified mass. My initial goal was to create plastic tiles, but I had trouble controlling the consistency of width and color. Tiles would be ideal for garages and similar spaces, as they are water-proof and would be unaffected by grease and oil. After my overcooked tile folded into a gray omelet, I began to pick at the blob, forming a stringy, web-like material. Playing on this idea, I continued to pull continuous strands strong, coarse thread from the smoldering plastic blob. Recycled Plastic bottles are water-proof, durable, and long lasting, and would be great materials to replace olefin , nylon, and other man-made plastics in textiles. Made into thread, this could prove excellent, for shower curtains, shoes, and coats. The thread, while a very good starting point, is brittle in its inconsistent thickness, and flammable at very high temperatures. These are things I hope to improve upon, while contunuing my experimentation in means of production.