On Failure
When we were asked to consider one of our own failures I looked up and it was looking me in the eye. I made this mobile during the first lockdown as a soothing distraction. I had avoided using a super glue because I had made the whole thing from up cycled materials I wanted to try just with tying to make it easier to break down to recycle. However although at first it held well, slowly and surely it lost pieces until it was left as pictured in the middle. It taught me quite a few lessons, firstly on waste. If I had used a small amount of super glue the whole thing would have avoided ending up in the bin so soon. In the longterm it would have worked out more eco friendly if I’d used glue, or spent a little longer figuring out a stronger way it could be tied. its something that I’m mindful of when I’m spending this time experimenting and evaluating earth friendly materials, I may need to go the extra mile to make sure any no-glue fixing are secure. Secondly the term a stitch in time saves nine, rang in my head. If I had fixed it immediately it wouldn’t have got so bad, as the more unbalanced it got the more pressure built on the joins.
I chose the PET plastic bottle as an invention which had ended up being a failure. When it was first registered for patent by Du point in the 1970’s it was hailed as an innovative break through which was lightweight, safe, cheap—and recyclable. It was considered the ‘perfect container’ and has subsequently brought sanitary water to millions of people. However a lack of proper commitment to recycling and what is described as a misuse of bottles at the end of their life, has lead to a plastic pollution crisis in the oceans. With reports of micro plastics leaching into the water systems, and marina life being adversely affected, it’s interesting to learn that the PET bottle was seen as an environmental break through when it was first developed. It reminds me of how important it is to consider the end of life of what I make, and the nuance of designing with the environment in mind.
I also went on to look at what was a failure for me during my making this week. This piece was a major fail, It was agar agar and paper pulp. I wasn’t quite happy with the shape and so tried to melt and reform the object. It took me over an hour and ended up crumbling up when I removed it from the mold! I learned that samples should be left as samples, and energy is best spent on something new, equally it did teach me the limits of the material.
