The first project of my interface studio was to make 25 boxes with different materials. I first thought it would be an easy project and shouldn't take long to finish. But it turned out to be very time-consuming...
Because the assignment was to use 25 different materials and I didn't want to spend too much money buying them from the art store, I searched my whole apartment to see what were available. It was fun at the beginning when I tried to make boxes from some strange materials like subway map, cookie box, plastic tray, toothpicks, sponges, strings, foils, bubble wrap, metro cards, cotton swabs, candle wax with vanilla smell, etc. However, I got very frustrated finding new materials when I got to the 15th box.
Then I started to think about "material" more in depth. I figured that the "paper" category could be expanded. There are different types of paper with different textures and feeling when you touch them. So I started to destroy bags and paper boxes I had in the room. So I got tissue paper box, brown paper box, glossy paper box, ... I also used paper towel and coffee filters.
It took me two days to make these 25 boxes, which was way more time then what I originally thought it would take. As time getting late, I was getting more and more desperate to finish the project. I was even thinking of using toilet paper at some point, but I suppressed the impulse. Nonetheless, one good side about this project is that it helped me clean up my room by discovering potential garbages, using them in the project and throwing them out after I was done!
