New Experiments

showing how stitching can hold the rice straws in place

pouring  the 'TVP' (textured vegetable protein)

adding water to 'TVP'

ingredients of the milk-based glue

filtering the milk powder+water+vinegar mixture

 This week I decided to experiment with protein based natural adhesives. After reading about the benefits of soy-based adhesives which are gradually becoming more and more popular in the basic manufacturing of wood products, I decided to spend this week away from any kind of synthetic adhesives and concentrate on using formaldehyde free mixtures that I created.
One of these was the milk-based glue. As you can see above the ingredients were: water, vinegar, milk powder and baking soda. The process of making it was very basic and fast.
Another one was kneading boiled 'textured vegetable protein' with bagasse.
Then I put the mixtures in a mold and applied pressure for them to stick together.

Soy-based adhesives

Here are 2 articles about soy-based adhesives, how it was found and what it's benefits are.
Enjoy!

Nature Lab Visit

bagasse detail 1

bagasse detail 2

rice hull detail 1

rice hull detail 2

sugar cane waste detail

These are the images I captured under the microscope. Seeing the material in such detail was a very helpful experience. I was surprised to see some features of the rice hull and the bagasse.
The rice hull looked like a piece of woven textile which was odd because when you look at it in your hand you don't expect it to have a pattern/texture like the one seen in the detail picture above. It seems  more linear and not as soft.
Also the bagasse showed a crystallized ingredient holding the little pieces together to form the intricate compositions. This ingredient is probably the remaining sugar which potentially can be used as a natural adhesive.

Experimentation Process

Bobby grinding the sugar cane waste

shredded examples of each material

Adding liquid latex to shredded bagasse

Adding wheat paste to the rice hull

Flattened wet pieces of sugar cane waste

Placing the material in the jig with layers of wood glue

Compressed sugar cane waste in the jig

Variety of labeled experiments

Class discussion of our experiments

     In the past week, I have been trying lots of different ways of working with the materials are provided with.(sugarcane waste, bagasse, rice straw, rice hall) In the course of this time, I have started to feel more comfortable about working with them, learning more about their strengths and weaknesses with every experiment I have conducted.
    In the first tests, I mixed them with plasticine and also tried to use the sugar hull as a filler inside a folded piece of canvas cloth. With these experiments I realized that it would be beneficial to grind or shred the materials in order to have an even and dense mix, if I was going to put together any kind of adhesive with the raw material.
   So in the second part of the exploration process, me and Bobby tried our best to make these materials as powdery as possible.(Using our hands, scissors, metal rolling pins, mortar and pestle,..) And mixed them with liquid latex, rubber, wood glue, and wheat paste. This time the outcomes were much better. The pieces stuck together and showed no sigh of the adhesive. But the problem this time is the structural quality of them. They are all flexible and have a tendency to break with pressure.
   So the next step would be mixing and matching the materials with different types of adhesives and processes of playing with the material properties. Hopefully some of the combinations will work surprisingly well.

Gender Issues in Costa Rica

 Costa Rica is a country which is still in the process of achieving gender equality. Even though legally the rights of women are established they are still unable to guarantee women's personal integrity or their right to justice.
The obstacle in their way is the community's loyalty to their traditions which makes it harder for them to reach equality between the genders.
Here are the two posters summarizing the subjects I have covers about the issue:

Peabody Museum visit

fishing net

basket by Elizabeth Hickox

how to start a basket

basketry tray

   Traveling to the Peabody Museum on Tuesday was a great experience for me in many ways. Not only I got to see local products that were made in South and Central America but I started thinking about the way people used to make functional objects. There is a reason why we still have similar looking things around us, it is because they work. They are long lasting as well as aesthetic. People in those times didn't sit and sketch like us, they didn't think about which product they are going to make would sell more. They did it with instinct and experience. They knew which material would be correct for their purpose and used what was available for them.
  Availability of material- This is one of the topics that got my attention the most after seeing these objects. How people are capable of finding solutions according to their individual situations. Like the 'backpack' that we saw in the museum. It reminded me of the time when I was in Ghana and we were trying to build a swing set for children with just bamboo,a saw and some string. There, I had realized that it is still possible to achieve the same conclusion (in a longer time perhaps) even though you don't have access to the same tools.
People in the past amaze me with their talent and their capabilities to do anything everyday. Going to the museum reminded me of this one more time, and the possibilities we have to produce anything we want anytime we want.

Project poster/ WITNESS