You may find that Krisztina’s fuzzy mugs that comes in different colours feel familiar. That is of course because she uses the mold of the iconic IKEA mug, VARDERA. The only difference between the two is that instead of feldspar porcelain, Krisztina’s mugs are of locks of hair and cosmetic wax! However, due to the difference in materials, the waxed mugs are hardly as durable as IKEA’s one but it’s still possible to drink from it, if you dare.
This is not a 'Värdera' by Krisztina Czika - This photo is taken from Krisztina Czika's website .
If not tableware, The Set Of Matter Varies is a technical installation that can at least show us the malleability of cosmetic wax.
The installation walks us through the stages of recycled cosmetic wax as a raw material. At it’s melting point, the wax drips effortlessly into its own shapes which evidently offers us the possibilities for wax to be recycled as an alternative material. However, if recycled cosmetic wax becomes more common, the challenge is still with the DNA regulations that prohibit companies and manufacturers to use materials that contain other human’s DNA without consent. Thus, bulk used resources could become a problem.
Nevertheless, where we would eat and drink from recycled plastic, what will it take until cosmetic wax and hair become popular materials too?
