Paper Manipulation Project:

During the first hour of the class we manipulated paper by using water, our hands and scissors in order to change the texture and shape.
The exercise that interested me the most was how we changed the texture of the paper and how it became softer by crêping it.
So for my final project I was inspired to experiment the texture of the paper.
Moreover, since all the paper I collected was from recycling bins I was motivated to recycle this paper and put it to good use.

Brainstorming Ideas:

At first I thought about how paper was helpful over the years outside of its original function .

After doing some research, I found out that back in the day of World War I, paper was used in two ways with the same goal; to warm people.

In fact, soldiers used to burn paper in order to have a fire when wood wasn’t an option because of the cold or the lack of resources. Also, they used to wrap newspaper they had and letters they received around their belly in order not to get sick.

I found those facts very interesting and decided that my project’s purpose would be used to warm people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to apply the idea of warming people to the climate conditions in Paris. The cold season is almost here and unfortunately some people like homeless people  are not well equipped for these situations and shelters are known to be very crowded in Paris during winter.

Each winter around more 30 people are found dead on the street because of hypothermia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In consequence of this idea, I decided to do a blanket for homeless people that would be an awareness for two major issues who are homelessness and waste.

 

Sketchbook:

 

 

In order to both recycle an make a blanket that will actually keep a person warm I has to soften paper to get a texture that is similar to toilet paper texture.

After a lot of research I figured steps I would need to follow to make magazine/newspaper softer.

Fist of all, I had to crêpe paper so it looses some of its chemicals that makes it hard ( and that led to me having black hands 🙂 ) .

The second step was meant to replace puffing; in manufactures puffing usually consist of exposing the paper to high temperature so it dries. Since I am not equipped for this kind of experience I ironed the paper so it becomes more dry.

The third step was bleaching, in fact, bleach is usually used to give the white color to the toilet paper but it also has side effects on the texture since bleach has a chemical that separates the fiber of the paper so the texture becomes more soft.

 

Finally, the last step was coating the whole blanket with aloe vera since it makes the surface smoother.

Process:

Final Result:

In order to get this result, I first sewed all the pieces of paper  together and ended up with two layers; one was 6.80 meters long and the other was 3.4 meters long.

I folded the longest layer in 4 so it become 4 layers of 1.70 meters long and then wrapped the other layer (of 3.4m) around it and sewed it all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further idea for this project:

In order for this project to actually be used by a homeless person, I would want to add a few more layers so it’ll be able to keep someone warmer and I would also like to find a way to make it partially resistant to water so it can be used multiple times.