Organization: Genspace
Workshop: Color - Bacteria Dyeing and Extinction
Role: Curriculum development + Instructor
Co-Instructor: Aradhita Parasrampuria
Are the industrial realities behind pigments antithetical to their cultural meaning? Would you stop wearing your favorite color if you disagreed with the methods by which it was made? Are the colors and materials we use to depict the future in science fiction storytelling possible, given what we now know about their environmental impact?
In this workshop, participants will dive into the world of bacterial pigments and explore their integration into artwork through the dynamic techniques of block printing and silk screen printing. While thinking critically about their real world applications, we will cover the basics of how to select, grow and maintain the bacteria as your medium - and the challenges to the durability and life cycle of bacterially pigmented items.
Hands-on sessions will be contextualized within a framework that maps the industrial and cultural histories of color and textile dyeing alongside current speculative and realworld trends in the production and utilization of biopigments.
We will consider the science and sociopolitical forces driving industry at critical junctures leading to our current anti-fast-fashion climate. Our intention is to come away with an action each of us can do on our own, and that one person we know will adopt that brings us a little closer to a better fashion future.