2nd life. A project in which the work was to be done with redundant waste. We, a group of two people, decided to work with newspaper as it was a waste that was created in every household and we wanted newspaper to take a form apart from it turning into paper againand so started thinking of the forms that paper mache could take. We of making furniture and building blocks out of paper mache paste and so explored with different materials like coconut husk, wood chips, glue etc to see which reinforcement worked the best for the final outcome. We combined many explorations to come to the final product.

Our first attempts(and explorations) were making blocks with the help of a mold and mixing different materials to see which one turns out the best. We used the bodyweight to press the bricks to remove excess water.

We found that these bricks were very strong but were also very heavy so we started designing bricks that were strong but used less material and were lighter.

While working on our project we also had a workshop wiith the drishya kids. They were very keen on trying out all the projects that our class had to offer them. The main reason that we went to them was to see if our project had the ability of turning into a small scale business venture. The kids were more experienced in that area. They had the eye to see whether a particular product has the ability to get sold in the market. We taught them how to make and explore with paper mache. We also told them to design their own furniture and we wanted to see how much they thought could be made of paper mache.

The final products that we made with paper mache had layers and coatings of a lot of explorations.

The final products.

The products that we made can be used for interiors, though they are coated with resin to make it waterproof we are uncertain about what the weather will do to them. The project will be carried forward to look into the weatherproofing and the different structures that can be made out of the material.

Some posters that were made for the exhibition.