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RECYCLING OF PLASTIC WASTES AS A CASTING MEDIUM AND RECIPE FOR ART SCHOLARSHIP

AJAYI, OLAYEMI AND SEYI-GBANGBAYAU, PAUL, Volume 5 Issue 1, 2021 Pages 80-90, Published: 2022-10-02

Abstract

the country. This called for a need to unearth new means and alternatives that are usable to help push forward the frontiers of art scholarship. Recycling is the process of transforming old or discarded products in new ways. The primary aim of recycling is to foster a healthy built environment; where the environmental wastes and/or degradation are reduced to nothing. The experiment carried out was to check how discarded plastic can be converted into a viable medium for casting; with the overall aim of advancing scholarship in art. The discarded plastic was heated till it melted completely and the solution got converted into a viable medium for casting. The result been given after pouring the solution into a mold established a validation that the plastic solution can easily be of good use for casting many a sculptural artwork; if well improved. The study was carried out using studio experiment, interviews and groupthink discussions, as well as authors' varying experiences and observations; with the intent to unravel an alternative for the skyrocketing casting materials especially for student-sculptors and professional sculptors who are liable to encounter difficulty in procuring the media that are used for casting many a sculptural piece, such as cement, plaster of Paris, resin, catalyst, fiberglass mesh, et.al all of which are already becoming appallingly extortionate in the present Nigerian market. This study did not only proffer a casting alternative for the students studying sculpture in Nigerian art schools and professional sculptors in the industry, it also reduces the non degradable wastes (in form of plastics) from the built environment and crusades for a healthier built environment.