I decided to create a material and exploring how it turns out. I worked with potato wheat starch. I boiled some potatoes in water and added some oil and salt to the water. After the potatoes were cooked I separated the water and kept it in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Then I added some wheat starch to the water. I expected that the mixture to become harder, but it was still watery. I remembered that my mom puts starch in cold water and then adds it to the boiling water to thickens the mixture. So I did the same and placed the mixture over the heat and stirred to create a smooth mixture.
I decided to use the oven to cook the mixture. I was creating without thinking. I thought that I can use some dried flower pedals and earing hanger to create some earrings with the new material. So I placed some nails in mixture to create a whole for earring hangers.
Some of the nails fell before putting the tray inside the oven and some fell during the cooking process. The result was not a success. The material got separated and I think it was because of the heat.
In my second attempt, I tried to use aluminum foil and radiator to dry out the water inside the mixture. I thought that the radiator’s heat is not as intense as the oven and it mess the mixture up. I was wrong. I created the mixture again and placed them over the aluminum foil. This time I placed the hangers inside the mixture, because nail was not practical. I let the mixture dry over the radiator over a night and it was not successful as well. The result was really fragile and it was hard to separate the earrings from the aluminum foil. Lots of them broke in the separation process.
I had this feeling that I can make it work. I also used macrowave, but all the earrings attached together and covered the bottom of the plate that I used. For the final attempt, I tried to use a pan to control the heat and also have a sleek surface to easily separate the earrings after they got prepared. From the beginning of creating this texture I knew that it is not something that stays for a long time. But I wanted to have some sort of control over its hardness. I was satisfied with the final process and I could create some earrings. I also created some molds with aluminum foil to shape the earrings.
I really liked the whole process of this action because of all its failures. It made me thinking about possible solutions and I did lots of reflections. During this process I was so tempted by the idea of using reisin, but I wanted to explore natural materials. Even though the earrings will not live for a long time, It made me more determined in further exploring natural materials.
