Zay Michele Studios

Name of Work: Newly Provincial Gathered Gabions

About the Work:
During this COVID-19 quarantine time, I have observed many people beginning to live a more “provincial” lifestyle. Our local bodegas and grocers can't restock enough yeast for all the bread-making, for example. More aptly, here, is that in-apartment 3D printers are being communally shared to produce PPE for medical staff, reminding me of age-old practices of sharing subsistence crop yields during times of crises. As our lives simplify around the hub of the home, it is nearly impossible not to take note of the patterns of things entering and exiting our otherwise sealed spaces – namely, items of trash and recycling. As a product designer, my specific lens challenges me to ask: why are we given nearly infinite plastics options – many of which are not recyclable – for our manufacturing endeavors, while other materials seem scarcely present? Why do we as citydwellers have separate recycling systems for metal, glass, and various plastics – do they not all last just as long in the landfill? This work represents a distillation of our consuming practices into specific, separate, yet intuitively indistinguishable materials. It is at once a terrifying, yet comforting proposal.