To begin my experimentation with the materials I sought to find what structure remained in the rice straw without the addition of any materials or adhesives. I began by taking the raw stock (which looks much like traditional straw) and separating the tangled mess into piles of smaller unique structures found in the mixed stock. The most structural pieces I found were long, dense stands of straw that once was the center of the rice stocks. The second group were dried, flakey sections of stock and leafs (pictured on left) that were brittle but clung to each other and could be clumped into balls and rolled across the desk like tumble weeds. The smallest pieces came off the other structures as small fragments and dust so fine it would blow away if I sneezed. Although this dust seems to have no structure now I think that with the introduction of a binder could quickly turn into a dense, homogeneous board. It seems critical to our experimentation that we not treat these mixed bags of stock as one unalterable material. There are distinct, separable structures within the raw stock (of all our materials) that have different physical and chemical properties. Whatever processes might fail to create structure using the whole, mixed stock may succeed with a select portion or combination. We need to investigate and understand our materials and their physical potential before we can build with them. I began to experiment and test the physical potential of the straw and found the most promise in its tensile strength. Although the straw is fragile when compressed or bent it seems extremely strong when pulled like rope. This strength, although not thought of as structure, is incredibly valuable. Tensile strength gives us thread, rope, cloth and knots. It can also be woven into composites to enhance its strength (eg. carbon fiber). Although this material strength is promising it still does not match most existing materials and more experimentation must be done.

Compression and tensile strength tests with clamps and weights.