The CHEMARTS Summer project 2014 had focus on hands-on experimenting and prototyping with cellulose materials. In the project, all final outcomes were made of cellulose-based materials. In the project, the focus was on aerogels, bacterial cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, and microfibrillated cellulose. These materials were used to create conceptual art pieces.
The process
The project started with a research and laboratory work phase where the team tested and developed various cellulose based materials from the textile point of view. The students worked for example with aero-cellulose, carboxymethylated cellulose films, microfibrillated cellulose paper and bacterial cellulose. Following the notion of sustainability and delving deep into research of Finnish plants and trees the group used pigments as well as natural dyes (beetroot, birch leaves, bark and lichen) to dye these materials for the projects.
After the research and ideation phase students selected three experimental concepts for prototyping, each concept having a different source of inspiration, and using different kind of materials.
The concept Mänty // Pine is presented as a scarf. The idea is based on the isolative properties of the used material and on the natural structure of pine tree bark. The scarf is composed of small pieces of aerocellulose that are layered like the bark on the tree.
The concept Koivu // Birch is presented as a jacket inspired by the shapes of birch and produced totally out of birch (materials, dyes etc).
The concept Jäkälä // Lichen is a first prototype for a shoe. The structure of the shoe aims to present the future possibilities and new application areas for the cellulose based materials.
Students from ARTS: Valerie Azovskaya / Petra Haikonen / Salla-Maaria Syvänen
Students from CHEM: Katja Kortelainen / Janika Lehtonen / Ling Wang
Supervisor: Dr. Julio Arboleda /CHEM Forest Products Technology
Creative workshop led by designer Heidi Wikar
CHEMARTS 2014 – Lost in the Woods
