Critters Black Stage

Location:  Thailand/Denmark 
The Critter Black Stage
Year: 2022
 

The Critters Black Stage is a prototype that speculate on how an artificial materiality made of organic and inorganic matters could become attractive to insects such as dragonflies, if we centre our design intentions to non-human needs and preferences.

We embraced in situ observation and empiric testing to engage with dragonflies exploring their polarized vision, which makes them confuse black smooth surfaces with water bodies, generating what are defined as anthropogenic traps. The result of those explorations where first materialized in a pavilion built for a music festival in 2019 in Bangkok countryside and then developed in multiple prototypes of smaller but more refined and crafted versions, that allowed for further tests and variations in terms of color treatment, articulation of different materials, and refinement of artificial perching spots.

This natural-artificial materiality, made of wood and plastic, proposes a critical reflection on unconventional material assemblages, inclusive of the cycles of production and waste. E-waste components are repurposed in non-human detailing, engaging on a larger discussion on reuse.