FECAL MATTERS

Turning used toilet paper into
usable materials Greenlab Project | 2019

Collaboration with
Elisabetta Goltermann, Melissa Kramer & Nicholas Plunkett
Fecal Matters is an in-depth material research, a project looking into design potentials and possible applications for recovered cellulose. Can a material, which was discarded by flushing it down the drain, become a representative design object? Can it be worn on the skin as a textile? Or can it be used as a dish to eat from?
Thus Fecal Matters poses societal and habitual questions. Due to its cultural connotation this material is extremely judged by its origin and initial use. What are the human boundaries interacting with a used hygiene product, what are our limits of disgust and how could they be shifted by design? The project creates a communication and a design strategy to make people react openly to a new material. It informs about the importance of the ecological footprint regarding the production and consumption of toilet paper.