MaayanZlo

The industrial and natural worlds we live in, produce large amounts of debris and waste, both organic and inorganic, neither of which can be efficiently recycled because of the huge amounts being discarded and not being treated properly.

I collected remnants of raw wool and date-palm fronds, both products of the local Middle Eastern agriculture. The wool was obtained from shorn sheep grown for the food industry, and the palm fronds were collected from Israeli date plantations at the end of the picking season. Each of these materials have a long history in handicraft traditions (felt making, wool threads, basket weaving etc).

I constructed objects in an attempt to explore the materials: Instead of using the felt in the traditional way of creating sheets, I made a modern adaptation and used it as a connecting material, a holder and a hinge, with the palms providing a scaffold for the objects.  

A connection also exists in the structure of the materials: The wool fiber has small barbs that cause it to shrink, yet give it the elasticity that enables it to hold tight. The nodules on the palm fronds enable them to be stuck in the felt, while the smooth part of the palm fronds allows them to be easily removed, leaving a trace in the felted cloth.