The buttons began with digital scans of rocks from beyond Earth. NASA’s surface scans of lunar sample 60025,241 and Martian sample EET 79001,2 became the starting point for textures that could be translated into small, functional objects.
Instead of inventing a surface, we borrowed one: the uneven, fractured geometry of stone. The idea was to make a button that did not disguise itself as polished or ornamental, but that looked and felt like a fragment of rock pressed into use.
The process took time to resolve. At first we worked directly with stones, drilling through them and testing how they could be mounted. The results were heavy, inconsistent, and difficult to reproduce. From there we tried FDM printing, which could approximate form but struggled with the level of detail the rock textures required. Once we achieved the resolution, strength, and reproducibility aligned enough to make the experiment viable, even then, it took nine rounds of sampling to refine the models, test tolerances, and adjust how the textures transferred at such a small scale.
Post-processing introduced another layer of discovery. Graphite blasting was initially chosen to bring out fine details and give the surface a stony matte quality. The technique worked, but during testing one batch was accidentally sandblasted instead. That accident revealed a surface that felt far more convincing. Less manufactured, more tactile, almost indistinguishable from a stone fragment. It was a reminder that the process was not linear. Each adjustment opened unexpected results, and the buttons became less a direct representation of rocks than an intersection of data, machine, and error.
Working with asteroid and planetary scans situates these objects in an unusual context. They are ordinary garment fasteners, yet their textures are drawn from places that are inaccessible, distant, and unreachable in daily life. What emerges is a button that feels both synthetic and geological, carrying within it a record of experimentation across rocks, printers, and accidental abrasions.
They are manufactured artifacts.
