Biochromes#
Global Instructor: Cecilia Raspanti
The textile industry is one of the most polluting sectors worldwide, with dyeing processes ranking among its most environmentally damaging practices. Toxic chemicals are released into our ecosystems, causing long-term harm in order to satisfy color demands driven by designers, industry and consumers. While fashion and textile production are rapidly evolving, sustainable dyeing solutions remain underexplored, while the list of chemical treatments continues to grow.
This class focuses on researching alternative coloring methods that prioritize environmental responsibility and local production. By bridging traditional craftsmanship and contemporary technology, participants will explore natural and regenerative color sources derived from plants, insects, bacteria, soils and local waste streams. The course emphasizes local sourcing dyes and pigments from the immediate environment, rethinking waste as a resource and developing sustainable, place-based coloring processes.
Program outline#
- Overview and context: Defining Biochromes
- A values-driven vision for color & material practices
- Dyes: Animal, Bacterial, Botanical, Composite, Fungal and Mineral
- Creating and respecting affinity of natural fibers for dyeing
- Dyes: principles of extracting color as dye baths
- Inks: priniciples of crafting inks
- Pigments: priniciples of crafting lakes
Materials#
| Material | Details |
|---|---|
| Fibers / Yarns / Textiles | animal: wool, silk, camel hair, angora; or vegetal: cotton, linen, hemp, ramie |
| Mordanting / binding agents | aluminium, iron and copper based mordants as acetate, sulfate, triformate & lactate; tannins as galls; Soy and other proteins |
| Ph modifiers | acids: citric or acetic / alkalis: sodium carbonate, lime, chalks etc |
| Botanical Dyes | seeds, roots, leaves, flowers, stem & whole plants, barks and woods, etc |
| Bacterial Dyes | janthinobacterium lividum, Serratia, micrococcus luteus, LB Broth & Nutrient agar |
| Additives | gums as arabic, xanthan, guar, etc; ethanol 96% |
Assignment#
- Produce a variety of shades from at least two dye sources from any category:
- Natural dye (animal, botanical, fungal) - modifying it’s colour and mordanting it in different ways to dye at least 2 different categories of fibers
- Bacterial dye - Explored dyeing with bacteria of different fibers and/or bacteria
- Produce at least one ink and pigment:
- Ink - explore different materials, recipes and understand how to adjust them based on the ingredients, explore solvent options and gum formulations
- Pigment - explore how to craft a pigment from your dyes or gather and process mineral pigments from your surroundings
- Document your recipes, the ingredients and process and if there have been changes, document your unexpected discoveries
- Name your materials, classify them by typology and display them in a systematic order of samples
- EXTRA POINT Submit some of your swatches to the analog material library of your lab. (20cm *20cm aprox)
Evaluation and assessment#
Check the Assessment Criteria
References#
Fabricademy Tutorials - Biochromes - bacterial dyes - biolab
Cecilia Raspanti’s BioChromes archives - Biochromes - BioShades
Local Color | Waag FutureLab - Local color archives