The Lac Lab Open Source

The Lac Lab sets out to shine a new light on the natural resin, ‘lac’, which is mainly used in the industry as a coating material known as ‘shellac’. With the rise of chemical coatings, the demand for the natural version is decreasing. Ori Orisun Merhav went to Thailand to study its crafty producers: the ‘Kerria Lacca’ insects. As the insects use the lac to build their shelters on tree branches, Ori started to research the possibility to form other structures with it. From stretching the material to blowing it, using moulds, even kitchen tools, she created a living archive of shapes and textures. The open source platform can be found at madebyinsects.com, inviting other explorers to join in and give new life to lac.