She weaves art out of old cassette tapes
A tote bag, a notebook and what looks like a piece of batik cloth.
These are some of the many products Ms Jessica Chuan, 32, makes with MusicCloth - sheets of "fabric" made by weaving tapes pulled out of old cassettes donated to her from all over the world.
It is not just a creative way to dispose of an obsolete piece of technology. Ms Chuan, founder of Rehyphen, the company under which she produces MusicCloth, hopes to spread awareness of the e-waste problem.
In February, The Straits Times reported that about 109,000 tonnes of e-waste was generated here in 2014, making Singaporeans the second largest generators of e-waste in the region, with only Hong Kongers producing more.
In 2015, Ms Chuan returned to Singapore from the US, after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in New York and found a box of cassette tapes at home.
Some of the tapes contained messages or piano pieces she would mail to her childhood best friend who was living in Australia at the time.
Not wanting to throw away something so close to her heart, Ms Chuan decided to breathe new life into them instead.
She and her mother, Madam Chiu Mee Lee, 58, started to weave the tapes by hand.
She then sent the sheets to global material consultancy, Material ConneXion, which has a database on materials.
It then requested 20 more sheets of MusicCloth to display at its libraries around the world.
Since then, she has made use of about 200 cassettes, 70 DVDs and 20 mini tapes to make everything from city map posters to coasters, ez-link card stickers, tote bags, book covers and exhibition pieces like dresses.
Some materials were donated by film distribution company United International Pictures and Singapore Press Holdings.
It used to take her four hours to make an A4-size piece of MusicCloth, but now she can do it in 45 minutes.
Her Extinct Animal MusicCloth poster, with the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, features dinosaurs and also endangered animals such as elephants and whales.
Donors from all over Singapore have contacted her wanting to give her their tapes.
"Some tell me not to listen to the tapes because they contain tracks of them singing karaoke," Ms Chuan said, laughing.
While she has plans for Rehyphen, she is looking to use up the current stash of tapes first.
"This whole experience has allowed me to share my experiences and connect with people, so I am excited about what is next in store for us," she said.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
