mum
Date: December 2022 Location: Mie, JP Function: Product Design, Material Experiment Client: REMARE Manufacturer: REMARE
mum is a product design project developed by PAN- PROJECTS in collaboration with REMARE. The project upcycles discarded plastic fishing gear into a dining table, reframing ocean plastics as a material resource rather than waste. Working with local fishing communities, abandoned nets, ropes, and buoys are collected and reprocessed. These materials, often left to degrade in the marine environment, are reintroduced into use through a process that retains their original character. The resulting table features a surface defined by subtle undulations, drawing from the movement and texture of the ocean. Rather than eliminating traces of use, the process allows signs of weathering and salt exposure to remain. These qualities contribute to the material expression, producing variations that reflect the conditions in which the plastics were found. mum positions discarded material not as residue, but as a starting point for design. By connecting ecological conditions with fabrication, the project proposes an alternative approach in which ocean plastics are reinterpreted as part of an emerging material landscape.
mum — New Nature and a Gift from the Sea The title mum draws from the idea of Mother Nature within Japanese culture. Surrounded by the sea, Japan has long understood the ocean as a primary source of life, where sustenance and materials are received as gifts rather than extracted as resources. This perspective frames the project’s approach to ocean plastics. In the context of the Anthropocene, it is widely acknowledged that ocean plastics can no longer be fully removed from the environment. They have become part of a “new nature”, embedded within ecological systems. mum begins from this condition, asking whether these materials can be reconsidered not only as pollution, but as part of an altered natural cycle. It proposes a shift in perception, where plastics are understood as elements that must be engaged with, rather than eliminated. The project focuses on the by-products of the fishing industry. Nets, ropes, and buoys are frequently damaged or lost at sea, becoming residual materials within the marine environment. By working directly with fishing communities, these discarded elements are collected and reintroduced as a material resource. In this context, ocean plastics are repositioned as one of the outputs of fishing activity, existing alongside the food it produces. This relationship is articulated through the design of a dining table. As an object associated with the consumption of seafood, the table becomes a point of convergence between the sea, the fishing industry, and its by-products. The surface carries a wave-like texture, formed through the recycling process itself. Residues of salt, weathering, and use are not removed, but contribute to the material expression, producing patterns that reflect the changing conditions of the ocean. The resulting form is not fixed or controlled, but emerges from the behaviour of the material. In this way, mum reflects a broader understanding of nature as something dynamic and unstable. The deep, glossy tones of the surface recall the shifting depths of the sea, offering a quiet reference to its origin. Through this approach, mum reframes ocean plastics as a material situated within a new environmental context. It proposes a way of working with what already exists, recognising these materials as part of an evolving landscape, and as a potential “gift” within a transformed natural system.
