The beauty of rejects

A New York show trains the spotlight on Filipino design

ingenuity with discards and cast-offs

AN acacia vase is coated in black to resemble African wenge.

Sectioned bamboo motifs embellish canisters. Arurog vines are

coiled into trays. Covered with twine, a trashcan is elevated into

a status symbol. Ditto a lamp that's embellished with chicken

feathers.

You've got it to hand it to Filipino ingenuity. Rejects can be

transformed into fashionable homeware. That's the statement of

the "Fuzz, Feathers and Beyond Natural, Renewable Resources

in Philippine Design," which is on display at the Material

ConneXion in Columbus Circle, New York. When the show

opened a fortnight ago, some 500 guests attended the affair,

mostly from art galleries, newspapers and design magazines.

Carlo Tanseco, the featured designer, observes that there's a

growing interest in organic materials that are fused with modern

elements.

Mixed media

"What was once branded as a handicraft is taken to a higher

level," says the architect. "Natural materials are done in modern

shapes. Metal is mixed with the organic, to contrast cold with

warmth. The uses are different because the needs are different

from that of 20-30 years ago."

As a merchandise consultant for the Center for International

Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), Tanseco has

collaborated with exporters in creating designs using

indigenous materials.

The great thing about the show is that rejected materials can be

used to make high-end homeware.

Tanseco worked once with a company whose strength was in

making of byproducts. Chicken was used as a feed and the

feathers were thrown away. Instead of discarding them,

Tanseco used them for home ware. Quail eggshells were stuck

together in laminated paper that covered the home accessories.

The cross-sections of bamboo that are normally rejected are

recycled into candleholders and other functional items.

Dried flower buds are glued to vases. Fringes of paper twine

make containers look like hairy creatures.

Tanseco explores the flexibility of rattan by winding it into a

radial curve to create unusual shapes for a planter or vase.

A wooden structural frame holds an inner cylinder inside so it

gives Tanseco flexibility. He can put Pinatubo cubes or river

stones to showcase the material and put an aluminum fruit bowl

basin or flower vase.

Prelude

Tanseco was advised by a manufacturer to veer away from

Philippine jade as it was too expensive. But then foreign buyers

didn't mind the price. He designed bowls and containers with

mosaic patterns of local jade and experimented with rough and

smooth textures.

Crushed Mactan stone, bonded with resin, is shaped into a

balimbing. Molded paper pulp is transformed into a

honeycomb. The possibilities of using organic materials are

endless..

The show is a prelude to a project between Citem and Material

ConneXion. In the next show, natural fibers will be combined

with high technology. Sugarcane skin, which is normally thrown

away, will be laminated on metal sheets.

Citem consultant George Beylerian, who's also president of

Material ConneXion, wanted to make these organic components

useful for architecture and interior design. They can be used as

wall treatments or finishing materials, for example.

Lately Citem is looking into the possibility of using plywood

made of bamboo. Beylerian plans to introduce technology.

"If you marry a rich indigenous material with technology, we

can come up with something interesting," says Tanseco.