Material

Plant fibres can be used either as a way of reinforcing the matrix of a composite material, such as hemp reinforced resin or cob, or as a material in its own right, such as rope or woven cloth. These uses draw on the flexibility and tensile strength of plant fibres; in the case of weaving this is enhanced by adding a self-locking twist to a yarn, string or rope. It is also a convenient method to make a material of limited length in a material of potentially indefinite length.
For the use in a matrix, however, it is the material’s quality of interlacing and mechanical cohesion that is essential. Short, flexible fibres are the result of a shredding or beating process. The fibres, often cellulose of wood or cotton rag fibres, are then suspended in water, making pulp, which can be formed into shapes in mesh or plaster moulds. For papermaking, the best-known application, mesh frames are drawn through the pulp before drying.

Any plant fibre material can in theory be used. For commercial use wood fibre – the cellulose of soft woods - is the most common. Hemp (cannabis sativa), on the other hand, is more environmentally friendly, as it requires less water and chemicals for the pulping process. British legislation, however, still prevents a larger scale production of this versatile crop. Cotton is widely used but requires large amounts of pesticides in its production, which overshadows its environmental record. Flax (linum usitatissimum), similar to its more oil rich relative linseed, is a traditional fibre crop of northern Europe, the Irish and Ulster linen industries being the best evidence of its history. With the decay of these industries as a result of cheaper cotton products, its cultural significance in the British islands has sadly diminished. The cultivated decorative garden plant miscanthus grass has also been used for papermaking.

Turf or peat and dung are naturally processed fibre pulps. Turf has been used as a fuel for centuries while dung is an important ingredient in composite materials for building and metal casting. Until recently, dung was used in loom-cores for industrial scale iron and bronze casting. Mixed with clay and straw it provided an ideal porous and easily removable material that could withstand high temperatures. This quality of the material was first discovered in the early Bronze Age.

Most fibre pulp based products can be recycled, like egg boxes or newspapers, but as a result the fibres are broken up into ever smaller pieces, resulting in a lower quality product with each cycle: downcycling rather than recycling. The objects in the show reverse this process: the low quality material is applied to a high quality product with a considerably longer lifespan than an egg box.

Pulped fibre provides excellent impact protection, which makes it an ideal packaging material for fragile objects like eggs. While it is not waterproof and tends to be easily combustible, this can be rectified by treating it with fire-retardant borate salt (Borax). Pulp products also show good thermal insulation properties.