Fleshnut

What are Fleshnuts? 

Very literally: Fleshnuts are handmade multimedia sculptures made from recycled polystyrene, tinted varnish and wool by the artist Gothorella. They are generally 2.5"x1.5" and weigh around 1 oz. Fleshnuts are hard plastic sculptures made from recycled polystyrene

From a story stand point, check out the (fictional) blog post(s) here.

From an build and artistic statement stand point: Fleshnuts (and flart in general) are The result of an artistic experiment by the artist and content creator 'Gothorella' in an attempt to condense and recycle* scrap EPS (commonly known by the brand name Styrofoam) derived from various techniques found on instructables and blog posts around the internet, Gothorella has played with and tweaked the technique of condensing and casting EPS to play up its tendency to look like human skin in how it wrinkles and moves while its drying in a process jokingly (lovingly?) referred to as ‘flart’ (flesh art), this involves condensing the scrap EPS with solvents and casting it in molds manipulating it periodically as it sets to reduce the inevitable bubbles and keep the piece forming nicely. Once the sculptures solidify and finish off gassing over the next 3 to 7 days the pieces are then hand painted and vein-ed over several layers and steps, each one takes on a personality of it’s own as they harden in to their final 'flarty' selves.

*It should be noted that the process of condensing the EPS (Styrofoam) through these means (from my limited understanding) is not a viable method to “recycle” the problematic material on any sort of a large scale (and should always be done with PPE, ventilation and care) , rather it is intended to bring awareness to the problems with EPS by creating these absurd and grotesque little cuties that are often presented as bloated, rotting or bruised. a physical representation of what this prevalent material metaphorically has in store for us all. Bloat and decay, poisoned by microscopic particles dispersed into our water and blood clogging up our landfills and water ways alike. 

If you want to know : Why I hate EPS so much check out the blog post here 

Making of the nut - Video

Fleshnuts are not edible or flexible.

 

links

Quick breakdown on dissolving EPS

EPS recycling challenges

microplastics yale

Eps recycling instructable (check its link section for more)