Recipe
Agar bioplastic
A vegan alternative to gelatine, using agar agar as the film-former. Sets firmly on cooling and dries to a tough sheet. Well-suited to foraged fillers.
Every A New Field recipe has been run in a domestic kitchen or community hall. Read the safety notes before you start and adapt for your venue.
What you’ll make
Semi-rigid, matte to satin, biodegradable. Brittle if under-plasticised.
Flexible slots (flex around your material)
Filler (optional)
Cellulose-rich powderup to 15gFine, dry, ground-up plant matter. Acts as filler and body in composites and doughs.
Examples Coffee, sawdust, ground fallen leaves
Note — Agar tolerates more filler than gelatine.
Pigment (optional)
Natural pigment / dyeto tasteColoured plant, mineral or animal matter. Yields colour in water or alcohol.
Examples Turmeric, dye decoction
Fixed ingredients
- Agar agar · 5g — Boil 2 min to fully dissolve.
- Glycerine · 6g
- Water · 150ml
Equipment
- Saucepan
- whisk
- baking paper
- flat surface.
Refinements and variations
- Add fine sawdust or coffee for a wood-like sheet
- Add a few drops of linseed oil for water resistance.
Source notes
Materiom foundation recipe; Fabricademy teaching materials.