Towards Digitally Fabricated Pre-Industrial Materials

Over the last year, we have been studying materials used to produce well-preserved antique furniture made in mainland Europe. These materials and techniques may today seem gruesome or unethical since they involve the use of animal bones and rabbit skin, but the actual final products can be disposed of as nutritious additions to household compost. The recipe tested was “Compo”, a dough-like substance widely used on 19th Century French heavily ornamented furniture and in Cypriot frame making. This project sprung from the hypothesis that if the way we produce today is largely a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, then the re-introduction of pre-industrial techniques into modern systems of manufacture might bear some solutions to the problem of waste and overproduction. After succeeding to revive the material and produce a classic Anglepoise 90 replica through “Compo” we are now ready to implement our material on an array of different products and forms. At the moment the arising research questions contemplate how we can take advantage of contemporary laser cutting techniques and whether the material can be successfully 3D printed in a clay extruder in addition to traditional casting and moulding. Early results appear promising! For the purposes of this presentation we will also present the most recent version of our recipe, our composting tests and our efforts to take advantage of waste (such as egg-shells) to develop it’s sustainable qualities.