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Plastic Bags Have Value in Sculptural So Plast!c Tables + Vessels

04.19.23 | By
Plastic Bags Have Value in Sculptural So Plast!c Tables + Vessels

Let’s face what we’ve known for a long time: plastic products, like food and drink packaging and plastic bags, typically have a very short lifespan before inevitably ending up in the closest landfill. Studio Karyn Lim, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Singapore, set out to give them another chance. So Plast!c small tables and vessels gather the potential that plastic waste holds to create permanent pieces as an alternative, which can then be recycled again and again.

So Plast!c is currently on display at SaloneSatellite at Salone del Mobile 2023. The event, founded by Marva Griffin in 1998, is dedicated to designers under 35, with the aim of creating relationships between businesses and young designers as they prepare to enter the industry.

multicolored plastic scraps pouring out of someone's hands into a container

round confetti side table

The overall design of the So Plast!c small tables follows the principles of geometry, asymmetry, and positive and negative elements of design, though the use of horizontal and vertical lines. Each table is made using HDPE (high-density polyethylene) from bottle caps and PP (polypropylene) from food and drink packaging. (Each one uses approximately 6kg of plastic waste, or 1200 bottle caps!) These recyclable plastics are collected, sorted, cleaned, and processed into a raw material used to produce eco-polymer sheets for new products.

round abstractly colored coffee table

round abstractly colored coffee table

round confetti and black side table

abstract angular white spattered black side table

abstract angular white spattered black side table

white abstract vessel made using recycled plastic bags

Plastic bags have been banned in 99 countries, while others implement a per bag charge. There are also restrictions on state and city levels. Lim said, “It made me wonder why education about the urgency of reducing waste could not change user behavior, but adding a perceivable value on the product could.” So Plast!c sculptural vessels are handwoven using plastic bags in an effort to change the perception of these disposable items by making them more precious.

yellow and orange abstract vessel made using recycled plastic bags

Used plastic bags are collected, cleaned, and converted into balls of ‘plarn’ – plastic yarn – which are crocheted in geometrical patterns to form the vessels. The finished form looks almost fragile in its skeletal-like shape, each unique from the others. Some carry color from commercial branding, while others are multicolor from the use of bags from more than one store.

Lim poses the question: “Should these vessels be considered disposable since they were made from disposable bags? Or are they precious since they have been manually made by a human into a sculpture – a supposed object of value?”

detail of yellow abstract vessel made using recycled plastic bags

detail of yellow and black abstract vessels made using recycled plastic bags

detail of white and black abstract vessels made using recycled plastic bags

detail of black abstract vessel made using recycled plastic bags

light-skinned black haired woman wearing a black shirt and red lipstick

Karyn Lim \\\ Photo: Sayher Heffernan

So Plast!c will be on display at SaloneSatellite, April 18-23, 2023 9:30am-6:30pm at the Milan Fairgrounds, Rho. Entrance gates are Porta Est, Porta Sud, and Porta Ovest. To learn more about So Plast!c, visit karynlim.com.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she's likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.