Project shown as part of the "DESIGNART GALLERY" spatial design for "DESIGNART TOKYO 2023." It makes use of acrylic dividers that were extensively used up and left obsolete by the 2009 COVID-19 outbreak, reusing them as architectural elements.
In this endeavor, we gathered and cleaned acrylic dividers from various businesses, and then used them to construct the venue's framework in three distinct phases.
The first step is to stack acrylic dividers of the same size without treating them in any way to make "fixture bases." As a second step, "laser-cut processing" is used on the acrylic dividers to assemble the three individual components into a "installation." The third and last step involves "upcycling" the broken acrylic dividers by shaping them into "fixture tabletops" with new surfaces and finishes.
Acrylic dividers, a ubiquitous and highly used material, undergo a wide range of alterations within the space and produce light over the course of about three years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this step as its foundation, Shindo is also starting up a new supply reconstruction project dubbed "OVER DUST." The project's long-term goal is to give previously neglected areas a new lease on life through the creative use of discarded materials from places like offices, stores, and other commercial establishments.

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[Notes from Atsushi Shindo]

Like crossing fields and mountains to reach uncharted areas, the "OVER DUST" project aims to make new value and surprises that go beyond waste.
According to the Infectious Diseases Control Law, the new coronavirus is now considered to be in "Class 5." This is when the main material for the spatial design of the project was found. An enormous number of plastic walls that had been put up everywhere to stop infections were being taken down. It came to my attention that more than 90% of these plastic walls were being burned. When I realized this, I got the project going because I wanted to see if something could be done before throwing away so many acrylic dividers.
The structure of this project breaks down the supply into three stages, which successfully shows how our past, present, and future are connected in the context of the pandemic. This shape represents the change from the "past" to the "present" to the "future."
The "Fixture Bases" section makes me think of the "past," when plastic walls were used as room dividers. The layered plastic walls look like ice blocks, and the way light reflects off of their cross-sections is very interesting.
By adding a second step through laser-cutting, the "Installation" can be seen as reflecting the "present" and standing for freedom from restrictions. By taking apart the acrylic dividers that used to keep people from talking to each other and putting them back together in small pieces, it creates new ways for people to talk to each other as "open dividers."
The "Fixture Tabletops" are examples of the "future" and are made from an upcycled plastic material that NOMURA Co., Ltd. and REMARE worked on together. It changes their look completely and gives them a milky white look after they are pelletized and heated.
If we don't see the discarded materials as trash but as new resources for the future, our daily lives might become a little brighter.
With the transformation of the "acrylic dividers," which could still be useful but were removed from society, I hope that people can reflect on their lives before and after the pandemic. With these aspirations in mind, I would be pleased if this initiative could symbolize the turning point of an era, taking steps toward a new future.

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ATSUSHI SHINDO 
“OVER DUST for DESIGNART TOKYO 2023”
Dates: October 20th - 29th, 2023
Hours: 11:00 - 19:00 (*Until 18:00 on October 20) 
Venue: Escorte Aoyama
Address: 1F, 2-7-15 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0061, Japan 
(Nearest Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Station: "Gaienmae Station" - Exit 2b, located nearby)
Organizer｜DESIGNART TOKYO COMMITTEE
Cooperation｜Arakawa & Co., Ltd  / NBC Meshtec Inc. / NOMURA CO., Ltd. / Japan Exchange Group, Inc. / Midorikawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. / REMARE Co., Ltd. / Benjamin Moore Japan  （* Titles omitted） Lighting design｜Katsumasa Asada（Geniusloci & Lighting Design）