Studio Formafantasma, a designing company by two young Italians – Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin – has delved through ancient historical literature to learn the techniques used by those people crafting objects using an organic plastic-like resin. The advent of oil has brought to us all things that are synthetically derived – particularly plastic. It is important for us to stop the use of this non-biodegradable product that not only is filling up our landmines at an alarming rate but is a major source of land pollution as well. Studio Formafantasma went ahead to discover how plastic can be created in an organic and ‘green’ manner – making it a perfectly biodegradable product along with plastic-like perfection. According to this innovative designing studio, organic substitutes for plastic have been used since the times before the discovery of oil, hence it is already there and we do not have to worry about inventing substitutes for plastic. After conducting a thorough research, they found out that plastic-like organic compounds are present in animal blood, resin and also in insect dropping – making nature the original source of plastic!
The designers have created various vessels like bowls and vases by using various organic resins – taking cues from Botanica (a plastic-art oriented organization) that suggests that many scientists from the 18th and 19th centuries had experimented with animals and plants to create an organic resin resembling plastic.
Collaborating with Botanica, Studio Formafantasma wants to display their findings on plasticity by showing that it exisitd long before the oil era and has been lost under centuries of technology and transformation. The organic resins are present in our nature in abundance and all we need to do is recognize them and stop resorting to the mass synthetic manufacture of plastic.
Via: FastCoDesign