The Materials in the Bioplastics Cookbook for Ritual Healing are meant to be accessible and affordable materials you could source from wherever you might be in the world. In radically open-sourcing recipes with each other while reclaiming our connection to our material processes with these tools, we can slowly start to make horizontal, reverse-engineer and subvert the systemic methods and patents of the techno-extractive world that dominates our bodies and pollutes our oceans. This is quite literally a cookbook, and to properly cook with these material rituals in mind, you will need the ingredients and tools listed below.
Tools and Materials
- Hotplate(s)
- Pot(s)
- Mixing Bowls
- Water (Sink)
- Glycerol
- Gelatin Powder (See Protocol on main page)
- Agar Powder (See Protocol on main page)
- Starch Powder (See Protocol on main page)
- Chitosan Powder (Protocol coming soon)
- Scale
- Water
- Beakers (100ml), (500ml)
- Filters
- Funnel
- Spoons
- Mold for desired Shape (See Mold Making Section Below)
- Pigments
- Thermometer
- Eggbeater / Mixing Tools
- Exacto Knife/Blade
- Pigments (See Pigments Section Below)
Natural Pigments can be derived from different powders, spices, teas, soil, clay, and food waste. They can be strained with 10-20ml of water, soaked in water, or the pigment mixed directly in. Some examples are:
- Spirulina (left video) to isolate blue phycocyanin pigment
- Tumeric (right video)
- Charcoal Powder
- Red Clay
- Hibiscus Flower
- Pea Flower
- Coffee grounds
- Matcha Powder
- Blueberry
- Red Cabbage
- Grape Pomice
- Get creative - what food or spice source could create a pigment?
Mold Making
TO NOTE!
Bioplastics will stick to paper, cardboard, wood, and even foil, I suggest using glass or recycled acrylic as a base for pouring the materials onto. Used/old picture frames work great! I've also used donated/discarded petri dishes.
< Mold / Frame Making Process
- To make the frames, I cut 2'x4's of poplar wood down to 5.5" x .5" pieces (4 per mold/frame)
- Cut custom grooves 0.5mm thicker than the acrylic pieces on stock
- Miter the edges (at 45 degree angle)
- Join the wood frame edges around the acrylic so that they fit together tightly without leakages - in this way you shouldnt have to use any wood glue
- Another Option: You can also create these or similar wood frames, then tape them down over glass or acrylic sheets, and pour the bioplastic liquid into those temporary molds, removing the frames after 24 hours
- Experiment with new shapes - squares and retangles can be boring! I would love to see some circles, ellipses, blobular forms, irregular polygons, and animal or microbial forms... or just go wild style!