Reversi
Pendant light

These foam earpiece protectors from audio headsets were donated by a Correctional Facility to Reverse Garbage. In this digital age the use of these protectors is widespread and increasing as is their discard for hygienic reasons.

Each protector is a slightly imperfect circular shape, is light weight and tears easily. Holding one up to the light I noticed the mixed transparency and saw the potential for application to a light.

Construction involved time-consuming threading of the discs in a diagonal grid pattern. The resulting criss-cross pattern represents the movement of sound, information, communication, and entertainment. The pattern reminds me of a checkerboard game I used to play with my sisters called reversi, where discs were moved diagonally, and with the aim of the game to turn your opponent's discs over so to display your colour. This constant turning action during the game is parallel to the act of reuse and recycle. The name reversi implies stopping, changing and going back.

Chinese Whispers
Discarded foam earpiece protectors from audio headsets were threaded with elastic. By threading them off-centre it allowed these discs to tilt haphazardly and connect with the next disc. This simple construction creates a lovely collection of accidental graphic shapes and a mix of positive and negative space that looks effective en masse for the purpose of a room divider screen or artwork. This process is time and labour intensive yet has resulted in something beautiful that would have ended up in landfill. The higher and lower ends of the threads follow the curve of a sound wave.

Just how much information and music and telephone conversations have passed through these protectors? The touching discs could be engaging in chinese whispers – “save me, save me!.” Lets hope the message gets bigger and better.