Week 13: Project Week 2

Documentation

During the bioplastics week we were given the ‘Bioplastic Cookbook’, which can be found here: LINK. In this book are different recipes that can be utilised for the making of bioplastic. While a lot of these recipes contain returning ingredients (glycerin and water for example), each recipe has a different main ingredient. Gelatin, agar and corn starch are examples of this. The most important factor of a good camera filter is of course the translucence. Without that, you wouldn’t be able to see a thing. Making a perfect translucent piece of plastic is difficult, but not impossible. That will be my first experiment. I already know agar won’t be used. I found out during the bioplastics week that these bioplastics are not translucent at all. I do still have some gelatin in the house, so I’ll use that.

For the first experiment I just used the basic gelatin recipe that is mentioned in the cookbook. This bioplastic is made as followed:

1. Pour 7 grams of glycerin into a pot (glycerin has a density of 1.26 g/cm3, so if you calculate that it’s about 5.55 ml of glycerin). This way it will be flexible, but not too flexible.

2. Add 12 grams of gelatin to the pot

3. Add 60 ml of water to the pot.

4. Cook on medium heat (I use a induction cooker on heat level 6 out of 10).

5. Stir the liquid with a spoon for about 10 minutes. You’ll notice the liquid will become viscous and a lot of froth will arise. If you have an extractor, turn it on! The gelatin will smell pretty bad when cooked.

6. When the cooking is done, pour the liquid on a flat surface (I used a cutting board for this experiment). Let the bioplastic dry for a few days. It takes a while for the bioplastic to get its final shape.

As you can see, this bioplastic has turned out pretty yellow. This is probably because of the color of the gelatin powder. It does make for a pretty cool effect, but it’s not as translucent as I’d like it to be. I hope further experimentation can still provide me with the translucence I’m looking for.

The first experiment nearly burned my apartment down. I was so fascinated by my first experiment, that I forgot the cooker was still on. The remaining bioplastic in the pot started to burn and the smoke detector went off. Immediately I opened the door to the balcony and let fresh air come in. My neighbors didn’t come to check up on me, so maybe they don’t really care, or they didn’t hear.

I decided that I only want to experiment with black and white images. This way, I can demarcate my project, so that I will not get too distracted during the process. It’s also a personal choice, as I’m a big fan of black and white imagery. I think the lighting in those images is much more effective. I also think effects on black and white are really cool. Sepia is a great example of this.

Trail of Evidence - Week 2