Oh, what a process this was! Once all of the bugs were eventually worked out, this was a fun, quick, and easy recycled art project with pretty impressive results. I had originally found this project in a magazine (however, what magazine that was escapes me) and I decided this would be a great way to show the students how art can be created from materials we would normally just throw away.
Dale Chihuly was the inspiration for this project, and luckily many of my students have had the opportunity to see a Chihuly piece in real life, thanks to an exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. After receiving quite a collection of water bottles, the students began adding color with permanent markers (I found this was the easiest way to apply translucent color with the materials I had on hand). Once colored, I cut the top of the bottle off and the students either cut strips down the side of the bottle, or they cut a spiral around the bottle. Next, they made a hole somewhere on the plastic and threaded a piece of fishing line through the hole. They continued this process until all bottles had been attached.
So here's what DIDN'T work: I wanted the plastic to start taking on a form that would not be recognized as a water bottle. I originally had the students take a hair dryer to soften the plastic to the point where they could manipulate and change the form. Unfortunately, we kept shorting out the electrical in the art room, so we had to put this project on the back burner. We started another project with the hopes of coming back to this one, and in the meantime, I discovered Pinterest. :) I found this example of cutting the bottles into a spiral and the rest is history!
