‘contemporary vanitas’ as part of ‘the metabolic factory’ by thomas vailley

for his graduate masters thesis work from the design academy eindhoven, french born thomas vailly explores new uses for human hair in his project ‘the metabolic factory’. his investigation looks at the means of considering new ideas of beauty, vanity and eternal life as well as the unrealistic mindset of our culture in regards to these themes. as a response, the opposing notions of death and decay were translated into into a possible new material. by combining human tresses with glycerin and sodium sulfite, the hair melts into a bioplastic resembling leather. the new substance is biodegradable and flexible, allowing it to be formed into a variety of everyday objects. although realistic and sustainable both ecologically and economically, the success of the project will depend on social reaction.

contemporary vanitas is on show at ventura lambrate during milan design week from april 17th to 22nd, 2012 in the exhibition ‘Z33 – house for contemporary art’. also on show there is joong han lee’s ‘haptic intelligentsia‘ 3D printing hybrid human-machine.

human hair bioplastic   the metabolic factory by thomas vailly view of raw material and end-product

human hair bioplastic   the metabolic factory by thomas vailly diagram of the lab

human hair bioplastic   the metabolic factory by thomas vailly process sketch