When Looking into how I practise I am always very wary around the impact my work can put on our environment. Through this project and a large interest in embellishment, I intend to find ways to create beautiful embellished pieces using recycled materials that are normally thrown away organically. For my own practise I would like to pursue creating beautiful pieces and products that are not harmful to out environment and can be just as delightful as sequins and materials themselves. As a designer I am passionate about designing pieces through recycling and I hope for this project I can generate ideas that I myself can use for my future practise.
Embellishment itself is anything that adds design interest to a piece. In most cases I am so amazed by an embellished piece I forget about the harmful and damaging effects one little sequin can have on ourselves and the environment. Embellished pieces normally are worn and used only a handful of times due to their special nature before it sits in your cupboard, is passed on or ending up in the trash.
Sequins themselves are made from PVC which is a flexible and durable plastic. The material themselves contain a range of toxic additives called phthalates which disrupt our hormones and health. Traditional plastic sequins will sit in landfill for hundreds of years due to plastic not being a biodegradable product. Not only will sequins sit in landfill they are seen through out oceans and waterways often harming animals mistaking them as food. Just like micro plastics when sequinned garments are put in the washing machine, a vast amount will then end up in our waterways. Due to the nature fo a sequin being so small they are often not caught by our filtration systems.
Upon researching the effects of embellishment I would like to use this persona project as a way I can push the boundaries in terms of materials and create pieces that are not harmful to our environment. As I sat at my bench I thought to myself why cant I use materials that have been used for their purpose and are then often thrown away and this is where I thought about exploring trash. A lot of hard work goes in to presenting packaging in a way that feels good to the customer purchasing. But once the product has been used and eaten it is thrown away, ultimately adding to the issue of landfill.
I started to collect common goods that were normally thrown out and was amazed with the sparkly, colourful and bright nature of the packaging I was collecting. I am excited to pursue this idea and see what I am able to create using trash!.