PILL BOTTLE FLOWER POT
Part 1: The New Item
Project Brief: The idea behind this project was to find an item that is meaningful to us and identify the concept and narrative, combine the essence of it with another, and finally creative a new object and narrative from it.
Essence of New Item: Empowerment.
New Item Narrative: Dealing with anxiety is something like that of growing a flower. They both have roots, take time and patience, and can lead to beauty after the process. For some, watering plants can be calming, sort of like the medicine that allows me to make it through the day. Pill bottles as pots is a great way to repurpose something that has been a major part in my life to a calming activity.
THE PROCESS
Part 2: The Old Item
The first part of this project was to find a meaningful item and find its essence and narrative.
My meaningful item was my favorite album by Angels & Airwaves titled "I-Empire".
Essence of Item: Experience
Item Narrative: I remember the first time I listened to a song off this album, I was skateboarding in the driveway and I instantly fell in love. I remember running inside and talking my dad into letting me buy the album, which took a while, and then just lying down and listening to the album. From start to finish, the album just made me feel like there was a lot more in life than what we worry about, while also singing about love, life, and the hardships of what we all go through. One song in particular always rings out to me called Rite of Spring. And, recently after my parents divorced, I relate more to the theme of these problems making me who I am today. Ever since I first bought the album to the third or fourth time I ended up buying, I still feel like the album gives me hope.
Part 3: Research for the New Item
The next part of the project was trying to create a new object by combining different essences or concepts. Here are a few of the ideas:
Idea 1: An alarm clock that reminds you of your worst memory. The idea came from combining the essences experience and utility. It was supposed to be something that would make you want to get up and turn it off through the bad experience.
Idea 2: A book for those who suffer from memory loss. The idea came again from combining experience and utility. It was supposed to help people who suffer from dementia and other problems to read and try to remember who they are or their family is.
Idea 3: This was the idea I decided on using. It was basically taking my old anxiety medicine containers and repurposing it into a small flower pot. This came from combining the essences of experience and empowerment. It was supposed to create a calming activity and signify the way we have beauty even in our hardest problems.
Part 4: Prototyping the New Item
After deciding on the item, I began to try and come up with ways to execute this. After considering making an actual flower pot and running through a few other ideas, I decided that more meaning came out of actually taking used pill bottles and turning this into a more of a DIY project. The first step into this was designing the prototype.
Moving from this was to create the final product.
Part 5: DIY Instructions
Step 1: To start this project, I first had to get the items: A small plant or soil and seeds to plant, A pill bottle, Some super glue, and A drill.
Step 2: Drill holes into the bottom of the pill bottom to help let excess water out of the pot and into the top of the pill bottle to hold it.
Step 3: Super glue the bottom and the lid together and let it sit to dry.
Step 4: After the glue dries, the last step is to simply plant your item and enjoy!
