I. the photograph
I printed this photograph of a fenland onto a plastic foil, which I then pressed onto a tissue paper. After that I applied the gauzy print onto the beermat using spar varnish to create a glossy water-like surface.
II. fire
I’m pretty fascinated with the Japanese technique of shou-sugi-ban, which is used to create a burnt surface on wood to protect it from decay and to give it this special appearance. I asked myself if I could create a similar surface on a beermat. Apparently yes.
III. snake eggs
For this experiment I blended a beermat and mixed it with flour paste. I cut the fingers of rubber gloves and blew them with air to get little egg-shaped balloons. I dipped them into the paste and let it dry until it got hard. My idea was to create a biomorphic form out of them, which worked for some minutes but not permanently, because I could not separate the rubber from the beermat-skin anymore and the tension of the rubber slowly crumpled up the newly created material. I kind of like the crumpled eggs, too, though. They actually look a bit like the rests of a snake egg.
IV. the tube
Bicycle inner tubes are one of these things that we normally throw away when they have too many holes. I always keep them because I really like the material. Using nails and staples I created a three-dimensinal object on the beermat.
V. the net
In this one I played around with a laundry net and also used nails and stapled to create a three-dimensional form.
VI. threads
On these two beermats I tried to create an interesting pattern using different kinds of yarn.
VII. fabrics
On this beermat I sewed different fabrics on top of each other to create the illusion of three-dimensionality. I also really like the pattern on the back side that was created by the thread.
VIII. beermat garden
Can you grow something on a beermat? Rocket works!
