pics and renders of past work

Been a minute

Let me drop some old b 's

For those crypticly challenged, trying to follow along from home,

We are pivoting to plastic

Seeking to create structures from film scrap, ( mainly LDPE stretch film and single use bags ) by fusing and laminating said materials with hot aggregate material ( presently sand) to create robust components.

multiply negatives, what to do with plastic pollution

Does the lotus unfold on its own 

Or is intervention a necessity?

I came here to develop a technique to create useful, functional sculptures from ubiquitous plastic waste .

It's a long shot, not my first ( see: build eco-arts center Trenton nj, sustainable low-cost modular shelter systems, and of course the reinvention of the egg )

 

Perhaps I bite off more than I can chew. But grand problems may require grand solutions.  

 

My hypothesis is that most of the plastic waste that is thermo plastic as opposed to thermo setting. Which means that it will soften fuse and melt under heat. ( thermosetting plastic is more like a two part epoxy,  and can't be remelted).

So, with a bit of heat <275°C and pressure we can form laminated sheets of plastic hdpe,ldpe,pete,  PVC and a few others which comprise the bulk of ocean plastic as well as " recycled " plastic.

Instead of sorting these different polymers and worrying about contamination,  clean them a bit, and then heat, press and form them into thick continuous sheets. 

These forms will be anywhere from 20-100cm thick, the shape of which closely resembles a hull of a ship.

Instead of being linear,  this hull arcs around to form a torus (donut).

There is a drainage pipe running through the circumference (nts). 

It is back filled with soil ,silt and organic matter which acts as a growing medium. 

Inside the torus, is suspended three more floating mats of soil, semi submerged in a fresh water situation,  these areas can grow rice and other water loving plants.

Although it has agricultural, aquacultural and seasteading applications,  my main objective is to provide wildlife habitat. 

Although,  that may not pay the bills.

a dome is constructed over the inside.

Siem Reaper

Siem Reaper

Yeah, we stoned off a new mix, 

I have fallen into a haze ,

Yet  loving the trip.

Slack line, its a personal thing. Mastery, or the other side 

Seems so easily parodied.

In fact, Jerry is my handle here.

Does this work?

can i just insert ?

or is #metoo coming out?

Preview didn't show

on to the next thought.


wheeeeeeee

It's a beautiful ride,

certain realities bubble ,
bubble brings me to the ring that will surround and create a floating landmass

details:

If there was only a few designs




usually the materials drive the design

at present, I am in an area that lacks basic municipal services and plastic waste accumulates, the majority  of which is raked into piles , and burned.

So, i gets to thinking, if we could collect and sort into general categories;  organic, plastic, trash etc.with a minimum amount of effort, ( lazy man here and labor is happy) through pressure and heat create different compositions ,
even co-mingled plastics will fuse into this slightly less dense than water material.
i want to take the negative attributes of this material, namely, long lasting , malleable and ubiquitous .
             create structure.




That's the mf trifecta neighbor


this material can be extruded in a continuous  feed scenario.  I am sounding like a wackadoodle now

But anyway now there is a ring

provides a container

from this rim hangs the land mass

on the surface, bioconstruction of lattice dome

next steps
build a working scale model.





the profile is tbd

so many different scenarios tumble in

lets get as simple as possible

dragons tail












works in progress, the Publish tab stares back at me, what if.

Field and Stream of Kamponh Khleang

The quiet  fields in dry season.

Mung bean, not for sprouts

Thailand grows that.

The harvest is looking good this year. 

No sounds of bees, bird or insect alight ?

Not sure how this may be affecting the waterways, 

But today is good.

Props to Mcgyver application

sunny beach homestay
another venue I didn't stay at, but warm kind hosts

ST 63 Homestay



half a week in Kampong Khleang

My Buddy Long Nith 

Many thanks for entertaining,educating and mopeding me around.

Boomer workaround

If anyone finds themselves in KK without a paddle.

This man will hooked me up with a personal tour 

Field & Stream explains how some of the many fish traps worked

pm me for instructions.

pushing out from the floating village

Hours before dawn the tinny speakers started their call. It is my forth day here, and time to head up to Siem Reap , Ankor Wat and see what the #1 tourist destination in Cambodia has to offer.

Realizing now (better late than never) the floating villages are not the structures that my guide Long and his friend motored me out to ,

 but rather all the homes and town that I have been in these last four days.

view from Sunny Beach Homestay

the air wafts with smoldering plastic and other debris. 

They really are this joyous

This is the dry season, soon the roads will be unpassable, but now it just looks like a town on comically tall legs.



But by late summer

 the monsoons will swell the lake and clean water will reach up the steps towards the Standing Buddha.The shacks and cabins will be dismantled and stored until the water recedes.

This entire town will give the appearance of floating , as access is available only by boat or swimming .

I guess I didn't read the fine print before i got here.

and it's cliche but the people I've met here I've been just so friendly and smiley and joyous .Just a wonderful time walking around meeting these people.

Although I post pictures of detritus and plastic pollution and all manner of unsightly there are people working within their own areas keeping them clean and tidy. 

Perhaps I can come with my Western perspective what the ground should look like how things should be also I come with my Western importation or excuse me exploitation of plastic rappers and all manner of convenience.

 I just want to point out that there are people who are keeping the area around themselves very nice and a shout out

There is very little infrastructure or municipal involved, save for an entrance toll fee and a police station that few spoke highly of.

vices bring us together.

Traveling around the fields with Buth, I casually asked if he could procure a bit of the dried and cured tobacco we saw growing.

Upon my departure, he presented me with a kilo bag of cigarette tobacco and papers.

I have been gifting handfuls everywhere I go.

This morning there were a few men on the porch smoking and chatting, one with a similar smoking situation.

Their English is on par with my Khmer, and he graciously accepted my gift.

Wandering the dusty streets, ogling the early morning activities, he approached and with a wide arcing motion of his arm indicated we will walk through the fields behind his house.

Two children soon followed and off we were , fish leaping from their ponds, verdant bean and  rice fields gazed afresh .

Such a wonderful kind joyous people.

Kampong Khleang

Kampong Khleang and the floating villages ,

Dry season , months to go before the seasonal rains.
an ochre dust kicks up behind the myriad light,loud  laboring vehicles. Settling on horizontal surfaces, most pronounced on the long flat roofs of the idle tourist ferries.

 the Author
 in situ

but that is a temporary distraction from the non-organic waste that accumulates, patinas and accumulates some more.

Judge not, lest ye shall be nudged.


a recent phenomenon amongst "developing" nations. For time immemorial, All Matter could be dropped and eventually it would return to the source.  Still holds true, just takes a fuck ton longer.
In the present , that sip of water or snack that couldn't wait , waits here.

yep

Shit is real as fuck here.


smoldering plastic wafts