Bioplastics
I really enjoy the way that plastic looks. It’s translucent and shiny and can make really great sculptural material. I toyed with the idea of recycling plastic into my sculptural pieces, but I was worried that I would need to melt the plastic in order to mold pieces the way I wanted, which would release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. So, I began researching safe ways to use plastic in sculpture, and I came across bioplastics.
I used recipes from Tiare Ribeaux: https://bioplastic-cookbook.schloss-post.com/index.html.
I made the first batch with cornstarch and it did not turn out very well. I peeled it way too early and it all stuck together, but I was excited to have a piece of my own homemade plastic.
I attempted the same process, making the plastic thicker and giving it more time to dry. In one of the plastics, I added fresh grass to it as it was cooling. The results were much better: a more durable plastic that was not sticky. One interesting facet of the plastic was that it was clear when pressed up against an object, but opaque when objects were in the distance.
I I repeated the process but used agar agar as the base ingredient, rather than cornstartch. I also added a drop of green food coloring.
The agar created a thicker, glossier, and more durable plastic than the cornstarch.