the challenge, having made a shell sculpture from
a single piece of paper in 2016 for a magazine cover.
The task became making a shell that doubled as an
enclosed container. Ong and Blackshaw met at a hotel
in London’s Mayfair, bringing along paper, scalpels
and biodegradable glue for a day of experimentation.
Blackshaw then continued to work on the form in her
Gloucestershire studio, where Ong joined her weeks
later to finalise the design. ‘We ended up creating the
vessel out of eight elements,’ says Blackshaw. ‘Two for
the inner core, two more that spiral around to form the
handle, then one each for the top, base, spout and cap.’
The result is surprisingly robust, able to be carried
around like a sports bottle. ‘When you cut paper on the
bias, it takes on a completely different characteristic.
It becomes incredibly sturdy,’ explains Ong.
The final hurdle came in the form of waterproofing.
The coffee cup paper is water-resistant, but without
a polyethylene layer, it wouldn’t hold water for long.
Ong and Blackshaw’s solution was to line the inside
of the vessel with beeswax. ‘That took us a few tries
because the combination of beeswax and paper is
highly combustible!’ laughs Ong. ‘But it worked.’
Shown at the Handmade exhibition in Milan, the
water vessel is a demonstration of how a small gesture
can help set our planet back on a positive course. For
Ong, it’s just the start. Later this year, a similar vessel
will feature in the first collection of her new venture,
The Company of X, which will create zero-waste
versions of products that usually ‘don’t love the planet’.
‘Once you start creating in this way, it’s hard to make a
case for any other type of production,’ says Ong. ‘If you
can make a range out of upcycled materials, and send
them out in a bag that naturally decomposes and can
be composted, why would you do it any other way?’ ∂^
beatrixong.com; loublackshaw.com; jamescropper.comABOVE, DESIGNER BEATRIX
ONG AND SET DESIGNER
LOU BLACKSHAW AT THE
JAMES CROPPER MILL, AMONG
BALES OF POST-INDUSTRIAL
WASTE FROM THE COFFEE
CUP MANUFACTURING
PROCESS (LEFT) AND USED
COFFEE CUPS (RIGHT)
OPPOSITE, FROM TOP, THE
STARTING POINT OF THE
CUPCYCLING PROCESS, WHERE
CELLULOSE FIBRES ARE ABOUT
TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE
POLYETHYLENE LINING OF
COFFEE CUPS; JUMBO REELS OF
PAPER AT THE MILL AWAITING
FURTHER PROCESSING∑ 155