WEEKLY REMINDER
Laser cut wood & edible water bottles, 7" x 11" x 4", Fall 2019.
The concept behind this "calendar" is ultimately to remind its user of extinction. Each week, they would pop an edible water bottle to water the succulent and see the revealed images of extinct plants behind it, as well as more on the back of the calendar. This action would act as a reminder of the importance of taking care of plants/the earth. Once all the water bottles provided are used, its user would have to decide whether to keep watering the plant or let it go extinct like all the others.
final product
sketches, research, and planning
Creating edible water bottles consists of a solution of 1/2 tsp of sodium alginate in 1cp water scooped with a round spoon and plopped in a solution of 1 tsp calcium lactate in 4 cp water. I experimented with the solutions and time it took to sit until I got a more desirable, round shape that would hold for the time needed to present my project.
Yes, they are completely edible or you can pop the "layer" and suck the water out. It's an odd sensation at first, but overall pretty cool!
For the final results I have pictured on the calendar, I let the scooped sodium alginate solution sit in the calcium lactate solution for over 12 hours. I found that the longer the solutions sat, the sturdier results I got. But if I let them soak for too long, (like for the 12 hours) it would be more "solid" in the center. After some time of air dry, they would become plastic-like.
To get a more liquified center with a sturdy outer layer, I would recommend letting the scooped sodium alginate sit in the calcium lactate for about 20-60minutes?
It's a super easy and fun thing to make––I will eventually explore it again with my focus on achieving the dried plastic-like result instead.
cardboard mock-up
back of calendar reveals 20 more extinct plants
accordion booklet containing the scientific names of all the plants on the calendar along with the year they were last assessed by the IUCN Red List.
digital file for accordion booklet
digital file for laser cutting parts to assemble the calendar
Thank you for viewing! :)
