mother of pearl original.
Design: Rhinestone Cowboys (Marten and Joost)
Industry: Collectible Design
Application: stool, cabinet, chair
Material: Mother of Pearl
Photography: Plasticiet
Location: Plasticiet, Delft, The Netherlands
To us, Plasticiet means acknowledging plastic as a raw material to build from, considering it as much a part of our natural cycle as stone is. With our name we imply that these post-modern times we’re living in are the age of plastic. Since we as a species have created a new resource, it’s our responsibility to make sure it’s life form is circular like all other natural life forms are. Today plastic is often still seen as a pollutant and discardable material. When we stop thinking of it as a disposable world trasher, that's when we can see its worth. It's rather magical that we as humanity are able to transform sticky oil which has been underground for millions of years into almost everything we can imagine, with functionality and high performance. Plastic is worth so much more than it's currently credited for.
Manifesting this collection is about stretching the boundaries of our know-how, creating a craft with a highly industrialised material yet at the same time we wanted to show that plastic waste used as a raw material is able to stand out next to other high-end materials. Given that Plasticiet’s key inspiration always comes from natural stone and rock formations it was only logical to find inspiration in the Neolithicum - the last part of the Stone Age - where our predecessors used more primitive means to come about. The collection currently holds three pieces; a cabinet, stool and chair. Three basic yet essential pieces of furniture that everyone recognizes instantly.