a cleaning experience that transcends the ordinary
Transforming the mundane task of sweeping the floor into a ‘spiritual event,’ Thomas Yang and Makiah Roberts introduce the organic new Stone Brush. Based on the innate human connection to the earth, the brush is based on and constructed out of only natural materials and forged in the natural environment. The designers make use of earthen materials sourced from their local environment in New York, including stones from Trout Brook and palm bristles sealed together with beeswax.
Seeking to reframe the ideologies of utilitarian cleaning, the product questions what we aim to clean and what we deem worthy of cleaning through a supplementary wooden frame. The structure marks off a space on the surface and and urges the user to form a spiritual connection with the organic device to sweep the ground following their spiritual instincts.
all images courtesy of Thomas Yang
thomas yang & makiah roberts’ organic cleaning solution
Making use of only natural and locally sourced materials, Canadian designer Thomas Yang crafts the base of the brush with river stones acquired from Trout Brook, New York. The cleaning bristles meanwhile, were made in collaboration with Makiah Roberts and take shape from a combination of palm bristles, forged grasses from the New York area, and Russian sage.
Each cluster of bristles was dried, U-folded, and wrapped into half-inch bottom based bundles, which were then inserted into the drilled half-inch hole in the stone and filled and bound with hot beeswax from the Green Market at Union Square. This was then left to dry and hand cleaned for a polished finish.
the designers introduce a family of four Stone Brushes
transforming routine acts with spiritual motions
Thomas Yangs’ supplements his family of four brushes complemented with a clear mat made from reclaimed wood which frames the proposed space for cleaning. It removes the motivation for the user to use the brush in a regular ‘functional’ manner, instead creating a space to orient oneself with the weight of the stone brushes.
This proposed frame breaks the floor into a dedicated space for cleaning the mind as opposed to the environment with the effort of the body through the use of stone. This opens up a new potential which allows the act of sweeping the floor to ‘transcend the ordinary and become a spiritual and even magical event.’
a combination of palm bristles, forged grasses, and Russian sage were sealed together using local beeswax
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