isabelle daëron turns recycled tennis ball felt into expressive objects

isabelle daëron turns recycled tennis ball felt into expressive objects
all images courtesy of marie-sarah adenis and isabelle daëron

of the 14 million tennis balls used every year, 10% are reintroduced into a recycling process through the ‘yellow ball’ campaign organized by the french federation of tennis. a tennis ball comprises an elastomer and felt made of recycled textiles. while the elastomer is upcycled into flooring, the felt has no application today and is eventually discarded.

‘memories of a tennis ball on the fly’ reveals the potential of felt material 

in an effort to reveal the potential of this material by giving it new uses in expressive objects, designer isabelle daëron has created the installation ‘memories of a tennis ball on the fly’. three objects aim to translate the acoustic and physical qualities of the tennis ball felt: a sound window which diffuses noise from the match
; a soft seat made by the successive addition of material; and
 a container-carpet molded from crushed felt that contains clay.

a soft seat is made by the successive addition of material

‘memories of a tennis ball on the fly’ has been designed for the exhibition ‘second life: metamorphosis of sport devices’, which aims to raise awareness of the circular economy by art pieces and design projects made of used sport devices.

a container-carpet is molded from crushed felt and clay

a sound window which diffuses noise from the match

sketch of the installation