An Unlikely Artform

Design can be formal and elegant. It generally has well rounded edges and the medium of construction is readily evident. The cleanliness of design can sometimes be too sterile. Enter designer Basse Stittgen, who is constructing a variety of products from animal blood.

In the meat industry billions of liters of blood is discarded every year. Stittgen has used a method of drying the blood to create a powder which can be heated and pressed into different forms. The resulting molds in his "Blood Related" project are black in color, and the products range from jewelry boxes to music records.

This experiment in materials highlights the importance of thoughtful and considered construction in the design process. This is the act of transforming a material deemed unwanted waste by society. Design can be many things. Here it is taking a substance rooted in negative connotations and turning it into something beautiful.

Utility is finding a use in everything, that manufacturing and industry may be less wasteful one innovation at a time.

For more information on Basse Stittgen's project visit: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/12/06/blood-related-basse-stittgen-objects-design-academy-eindhoven/