Bali-based, sustainability-focused creative platform Space Available has tapped South Korean techno DJ and artist Peggy Gou to create a chair made entirely from plastic trash.
Currently, Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to ocean plastic and follows just behind China. The southeast Asian country only recycles about 10% of the 6.8 million tonnes of plastic it generates each year. To counteract this, Space Available and Peggy Gou decided to turn this “heartbreaking” waste into something beautiful and practical, in addition to bringing more awareness to this mounting issue through design.
Each chair is made from 20 kilograms of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) on Indonesia’s famed island, Bali. Almost the entirety of this discarded plastic comes from the neighbouring island of Java.
The collaborative furniture piece boasts an eye-catching spiral pattern, which has been created by swirling melted plastic by hand before letting it set and harden into sheets. The sheets are then placed together like wood to construct the structure of the chair. To pay homage to Gou’s career and love of music, an under-seat compartment provides a space to hold vinyl records, while the back features two fins for stability.
Local Balinese artisans have pieced each board together by hand, without the added need for screws, staples, or glue. Simply by melting and fusing the boards with a heat gun, this produces zero waste and also allows the chair to be fully recycled again when it reaches the end of its life.
On the collaboration, Daniel Mitchell, founder of Space Available shared, “The trash is just everywhere, in the streets and rivers. It’s heartbreaking. It’s not the fault of the people, there’s just very little structural support, waste collection, or education. Households are left to dispose of their own waste and most end up in rivers or being burned.”
The Peggy Gou x Space Available “The Peggy Chair” will be available for pre-order starting June 28 exclusively via Mr. Porter. Those located in Bali will be able to purchase the chair directly from Space Available. A T-shirt designed from waste materials sourced from various factor cut-offs accompanies each purchase. For each chair sold, 20% of the profits will go towards Space Available’s official partners at the Sumatra Orangutan Society, an organization supporting efforts against deforestation and the destruction of wildlife.
All images in this article are courtesy of Space Available.
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