Leela Fideor

Pulp is a project about using cardboard pulp as a product material and its potential to create compostable furniture pieces, primarily intended for constantly moving city dwellers. A significant portion of developing this project was experimenting with different binding materials like corn starch, pine resin, and flour. In order to make the pieces water-resistant, I researched sizing agents used in papermaking like ketene dimer and gelatin. In order to compress the pulp, I designed and created molds on a 3D printer. The final design of the shelf is a nod to the material it comes from, mirroring the corrugations of cardboard. By creating different prototypes and experimenting with the material, I've been able to contemplate the relationship between people and the objects we possess. Most objects are created with the intention and goal of permanence; however, realistically, everything will eventually be disposed of. Using pulp as a material to create products celebrates disability and the sentiment that perhaps not everything we produce needs to outlive us. Ideally, Pulp will be only the beginning of my relationship with using cardboard. More specifically, I hope to further this project by creating a modular object made up of many smaller components.