The Hair-clip Coffee Table

Was started as a plastic hair-clip is now a mini-spiral, staircase-based, coffee table made out of old and used VHS tapes. When planning and brainstorming my ideas for this project, I was inspired by the lines and movements that I saw in my hair-clip. From those lines and angles of the hair-clip, I was able to proceed and sketch. This allowed me to fine-tune my ideas. Two design possibilities that emerged from my design process were a coffee table and a chair. After continued sketching and designing opportunities, I set off to collect the materials required for my design.

La Reserve des Arts were marvellous. They supply just about everything and anything. That is everything and anything but a curvy piece of wood that I was hoping and seeking. After realising that I wasn’t going to be able to do my original idea I came to the conclusion that I must get creative and find a new way in which I can achieve the same concept with different materials.

After gazing around I found some bookcases that were crammed with magazines. My thought process was to grab a bunch of magazines and stack them. However, I became aware that I have a 10-minute walk to the Metro and after a 25 minute Metro ride home. Carrying a stack of dense Vogue magazines might not be the best idea. It was at this moment when I looked down and saw them. The VHS tapes! A spark lit up and a new idea formed. I stacked them in a spiral, placed my glass on top and voila! I saw my project form right in front of me.

When it came to stacking and organising the tapes I had planned on drilling a hole through all of the tapes and threading a pole through the centre to help support the column of tapes. Almost two hours later of multiple attempts it was apparent that this was not going to work. A new plan had to be commenced. Thanks to the wonderful Tech lab team and some google research, chloroform was going to be my new buddy and saviour. Chloroform is a chemical, which reacts to certain materials such as plastic. The effect it has is that it melts, distorts and gives new form to an old product. For the next hour and a half, I sat in the project lab and carefully measured out, poured, and stuck each tape together. Eventually, I was left with a rather funky looking base that looked like a mini-spiral staircase /DNA spiral.

While going through the process of melting the tapes together, I was able to see what each tape was, some were now lost memories of events and family holidays and others where movies and instructions/how-to films. Seeing them stacked in the final product reminded me of my old VHS tapes and the stack of Disney movies I have next to the TV at home.

Giving a new life and purpose to these tapes has made me very happy. Unlike a stack of magazines or books which we can still read and use, VHS tapes are no longer in use, therefore, they no longer have a meaning or serve a purpose in the world today. DVD’s are even slowly fading out thanks to Netflix and other online video platforms. Seeing them stacked as I have brings them new life.

Overall, I am very content and proud of my coffee table art and the journey on which I went through to achieve my final product. When I look at my table I can imagine seeing it in a store window display and taking a photo as I walk by hoping that one day I would purchase it, or at least hope to get some inspiration to make something like it. I like how each tape once had its own individual purpose and now has been melted, joined and brought together to create one new connective and intertwining purpose. A whole new artform, all thanks to inspiration from my hair-clip.