When she was younger, JJ Chuan loved cassette tapes. After her best friend moved to Australia they kept in touch by sending each other recordings. Years later, as the world transitioned to digital, Chuan found she was left with numerous tapes and no way to safely get rid of them. The tape of cassettes cannot biodegrade and is coated with metals that release harmful chemicals in landfills. So Chuan founded Rehyphen, an initiative recycling this e-waste into a unique fabric.
Based in Singapore, Chuan removes the tape from the cassette and knits it into a fabric known as MusicCloth. This plastic material is durable, waterproof, and lightweight. “We have weaved and used up to about 3 000 cassette tapes since we started in 2018,” Chuan says. Pioneering the way people approach e-waste, she creates artworks, accessories, notebooks, shopping bags, and city maps with donated cassette tapes.
She also turns the casings into customised greeting cards or Christmas tree ornaments. To share her knowledge, Chuan runs workshops where she teaches people how to make their own MusicCloth. Involving people in the creation of the art, she’s inspiring them to make something that will last forever. “We encourage the public to reimagine our waste into beautiful memories,” she says.
Footage and photos by Rehyphen were used in the creation of this film.
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