@@ -109,19 +109,21 @@ The basics of documenting color, things to mention and things to consider.
**Dye stuff**
* Name
* Origin
* Date
* Name: Red Cabbage (organic, AH)
* Origin: unknown
* Date: 16-18 Oct 2019
**Recipe**
* Quantities
* Time
* Vehicle
* Binder
* Stabilizer
* Modifier
* Thickener
* Amount : A little more than half the cabbage, finely chopped (it was a big one),
* Vehicle/solvent : Ethanol
* Dyeing time : one hour, and some overnight
* Binder : -
* Stabilizer: Salt
* Modifier 1: Acidic PH modifier, vinegar solution (125 ml on 300 ml tap water)
* Modifier 2: Alkaline PH modifier, tap water
* Modifier 3: Alkaline PH modifier, sodium carbonate (soda ash) dissolved in water (2 pinches on 300 ml hot water)
* Thickener: -
**Catologueing**
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@@ -136,55 +138,200 @@ The basics of documenting color, things to mention and things to consider.
###1 hour dye
###To rinse or not to rinse...
I dyed my fibres for an hour in a pot that I kept simmering. I had to add more water because the pieces sticking out already started oxidizing. The color was initially a nice dark blue, that eventually turned a bit more toward purple/lilac tones.
###Modifying with vinegar (acidic PH modifier)
![]()*Dyeing the fibres, Loes Bogers, 2019*
###Overnight dye
####A simple rinse turned into a modification
###Modifying with soda ash (alkaline PH modifier)
I took the textiles out and rinsed them in lukewarm water. This turned the fibres baby blue instantly. The water here is a bit alkaline, so I basically already did my first modification by accident, just by rinsing the fibres. I rinsed one set of fibres and put them away to dry. I didn't rinse in water anymore after that, I just took the fibres out to let them dry without rinsing. Lady cabbage is very agile! I'm going to ask her if she will be my spirit dye stuff ;-)
###Modifying with vinegar *again!*
####Modifying with soda ash (alkaline PH modifier)
I made a solution from 2 pinches of soda ash in hot water. (Only 1 pinch had no effect on the color). I tested it on a piece of jersey that almost immediately lost nearly all it's color, turning into a very pale green. Again, I didn't rinse in water but took it straight from the dye. This is when I decided to leave the rest of the fibres overnight before modifying with an alkaline modifier again.
![]()*Soda ash is a bit too harsh on a one hour dye, Loes Bogers, 2019*
####Modifying with vinegar (acidic PH modifier)
I also tried an acidic modifier on the one hour dyed pieces. For this I made a vinegar solution (125 ml to 300 ml water), which turned the one hour dye fibres into a nice pinkish lilac. Lots of mermaid effects because I can't help it. I just gave them a quick dip of a few seconds before taking them out again to prevent them from losing all their color. Magic!
###Overnight dye
The overnight dye turned the pieces beautifully dark (at first, purple-ish later). I took one set out of the dye and let it dry without rinsing. I dipped a sample in my soda solution from the day before, and this time I got a gorgeous turquoise/petrol color (my favourite!!!!) So I chopped the neutral set of fibres in half so I could make another alkaline modification here. B-e-a-u-tiful.
###Post-mordanting
nope. Acid!
Cecilia mentioned that cabbage is known to lose its color. There's definitely no washing these fibres or its all gone. Even just time and air will make the colors duller. We tried some mordants to see if we could post-mordant the fibres dyed in cabbage. In theory you can bind colors better by post-mordanting, could be by spraying it with a mordant solution and ironing it a few times. Sadly, the mordants we had at hand (alum, and tannin from the tara tree) were too acidic and would definitely modify the beautiful hues I was trying to capture. Luckily I tested them with PH papers before dunking all my gorgeous babies in there.
###Cataloging
![]()*PH strips of the alum and tara tree solution: acidic, Loes Bogers, 2019*
<br><br>
###Modifying with vinegar *again!*
Waking up on Friday, I came down to see the beauties to notice that the unmodified dye and the alkaline modification (pink) had both changed, and were now very close to one another in color. So I thought I'd try a little something, and dipped a piece in vinegar (maybe a bit harsh, I forgot to dilute). It immediately turned bright fuchsia pink! Before it had stayed a little in the lilac/purple hues. I thought this was nice, another modification. So I chopped the earlier alkaline modification in half and dunked it in a vinegar solution, adding a nice pink set to the collection. Let's see if it stays!
##Inks
###Step one
Ink follows similar process as dye. You have a vehicle, a binder and potentially additives like modifiers. I made some cabbage ink using ethanol as a vehicle. It needed to be quite strong though, so we had to add more cabbage (thanks Bea!).
**Vehicles**: water | ethanol | oil | gel
**Binders**: arabic gum, only works with water-based inks
**Additives**: salt | vinegar | minerals (to stabilize, intensify, modify, thicken and preserve).
###Regular inks: water-based
1. Extract the color into water by boiling
1. Boil down the ink a lot
1. Add salt and/or arabic gom to stabilize/thicken
1. Add alkali or acidic modifiers to change color
###Step two
###Marker inks: ethanol-based
1. Extract the color by stirring it with ethanol (e.g. cabbage)
1. Add more ethanol and stir some more until concentrated enough.
1. Add salt to stabilize
1. Add alkali or acidic modifiers to change color
###Printing inks: oil or gel-based
I didn't work with these myself. But I think oil or gel-based inks are generally made with pigments and oil/gel. To get pigment you can let dye/ink dry out and scrape the residue. You can also precipitate the ink/dye by adding (?????). Will have to check how this process works again.
What kind of oils and gels?
### Experiments
<Br><br>
Here are some experiments I made on aquarel paper. First I added lines of modifiers that I let dry, and then painted stripes of different inks on top. You can see how they all respond differently.
From top to bottom in this order:
* Hibiscus | water
* Cabbage | ethanol | vinegar
* Cabbage | ethanol | soda
* Beetrood | ethanol
* Lichen | water
* Turmeric | ethanol
* Avocado pits | water > dissipated
And from left to right:
* Vinegar
* Soda
* Arabic gum
* Copper liqueur
![]()*Staining some paper with different inks and modifiers, Loes Bogers, 2019*
I also drew some more freeform shapes using a wet-on-wet technique to play with the interactions between ink, modifiers and ethanol. Below you see hibiscus ink (bordeaux red) and turmeric (yellow), modified with copper in the top right, creating greens. I added some soda in the bottom left, it traveled quickly and left purple stains all over, beautiful. The blue-ish dots are made with some vinegar.
![]()*Free-form experiments with hibiscus and turmeric and modifiers, Loes Bogers, 2019*
And this drawing is lichens (the brownish tone), sprayed with copper using a toothbrush, leaving a light, minty green tone. while it was still wet I added some drops of the cabbage/vinegar ink to create some deep turquoize stains that traveled very beautifully too.
![]()*Free-form experiments with cabbage with vinegar, lichens & copper, Loes Bogers, 2019*
##Bacterial dye
###Biolab basics
No food and drink in the lab! You don't want to eat the stuff flying around here. Wear a coat, consider gloves and goggles always. Tie up your hair to avoid contaminating your plates.
Once you start working with the bacteria themselves: close doors and windows to stop airflow. Don't talk, don't move. All airflow moves bacteria around and into your plates.
Sign in and out and clean up your dishes. Through away the water after.
###Meeting Serratia Marcensis
We met Serratia Marcensis! A red/orange beauty that gives us pink (in acidic solutions) if you treat her well and feed her peanut butter. They used to keep a purple one too but sadly it died when the freezer broke over summer. You have to keep her alive by giving her new food every few days (replating).
###Growing media, or: what to feed Serratia
Plate some growing media mixed with crunchy(!) peanut butter. Nuts and seeds can do wonders with some bacteria. We prepared these growing media:
* 500 ml of LB broth (LB): stays liquid, use 20g/L, with 3/4 tsp of peanut butter;
* 250 ml of Nutrient Agar (NA), jellifies when cooled down: 28 g/L, with 1.2 tsp of peanutbutter;
* 500 ml of Plate Count Agar (PCA), jellifies when cooled down: 23 g/L, with 3/4 tsp of peanut butter;
* 250 ml of Vegitone (VA): jellifies into dark green jelly: 62.5 g/L and 1/2 tsp of peanut butter (it was old and chunky! Might not work well);
* 500ml of Water & Peanut (WP), tap water with 1/2 tsp PB (or sterilized water, depending on local quality)
*PH value of the growing media*
As SM is a PH sensitive creature, it's good to know the PH value of the stuff you're working with (like I saw when rinsing my dyed cabbage fibres!). None of the foods are very alkaline, only the LB broth is a little more acidic.
We measure the ingredients with a precision scale (stabilize before using), by putting it on a piece of paper for easy pouring into the bottles. We then mixed all of this (shake well!) and labeled the bottles as well as the lids. You can smell them to sense if they're clean, if they smell funny: wash. Label them differently so you can identify them from the top.
###Sterilizing the food and the substrate
Then we sterilized the food bottles. The lid should be loose! Otherwise it can explode in the pressure cooker. You close them after sterilizing.
*Autokleeftape!*
Stick a bit of autokleeftape to the top. It has diagonal lines that turn dark if you sterilized correctly. Handy....
*Handling the pressure cooker*
Close the lid, seal the lid (locking it), and turn the knob to position 2. When the little pin firmly comes *all the way out*, the cooker is under pressure and you can start the timer for 15 mins.
Bring the water in the pressure cooker to the boil and let them steam *under pressure* for at least 15 minutes. Let them cool and take them out. If you're impatient and cannot wait to let them cool: first release the steam before opening the cooker!
###Folding and sterilizing the fabric
We each got a piece of silk that we folded or crumpled up to create patterns/symmetry in the dying pattern SM will create for us. Add a couple of stitches to keep it all together. We sterilize the substrate because otherwise you might be growing just about any bacteria that ever touched your silk. We want to constrain the growing to Serratia. Silk dyes really well, it's protein-based because it's an animal fibre.
Put the fabrics in **glass petri dishes**, or in a heat-resistant **autoplate bag**. Again, stick some autokleeftape on to assess whether it sterilized correctly. Sterilize for at least 15 mins under pressure in the pressure cooker.
###Plating
Take care when taking everything out. Make sure nothing accidentally opens when you take the petri dishes and foods out. Seal the food bottles tight. We started off by each plating some food from all the growing media, so we can keep our own Serratia's alive for a while. Plating basically means preparing petri dishes with food in a sterile way, before you add the bacteria you want to grow (see inoculating).
####Keeping it sterile
Use new petri dishes and tape the bag closed if you don't finish a bag. You can use these only once. During the plating: don't talk, don't move! Airflow spreads bacteria and will contaminate your scene.
Make an empty table and douse the area around the gas burner with ethanol. Keep this area wet with ethanol throughout the process. This will create a *sterile bubble* when the flame is on. Keep all your movements and lids, tools, dishing inside this bubble at all times and you should be ok :) Easier said than done.
Steps:
1. Collect your petri dishes so they're close to you
1. Put the food bottles within reach, they're hot! Use a glove.
1. Get comfy an light the gas burner
1. Keep the rim of the bottle in the flame for a second to sterilize the area you will pour with
1. Lift the lid of the petri dish (open it as little as possible and work quickly), pour in some liquid to cover the bottom.
1. Close the petri dish and move on to the other ones.
1. Keep the area doused with ethanol, but remember to *point the tip of the bottle away from the flame at all times!*
1. When you're done, label all the plates with:
* name of the bacteria (SM)
* name of the growth media (PCA, NA, VA, PW, LB)
* date
* your name
###Inoculating
**Two techniques to dye with bacteria:**<br>
* Grow bacteria directly on the fabric (what we're doing)
* Extract the color and dying with that (will learn later)
When growing directly on the fabric, you first soak the silk with a liquid growing medium - we used LB broth. Work in a sterile matter within the sterile bubble, similar to how we did the plating. No moving, no talking! Then you inoculate, or: add the bacteria to your sterile plates/fabrics. The steps:
1. Keep the *inoculation loop* in the flame until it turns red to sterilize it. If the bacteria is grown in a liquid growth medium, like water, you can dilute it with sterile water and use a sterile spray or pipet.
1.*Cool* the inoculation loop by dipping it into a bit of jelly where no bacteria is growing.
1. Scrape a bit of bacteria from the petri dish and spread it all around the plate, or on your fabric and in the liquid food around it.
1. Try not to break the jelly but really scratch the surface only!
1. Label the dishes if you haven't done so already
1. Seal the plates with *parafilm* stretch it all around until it overlaps by holding one end with one thumb and pulling the rest around, letting go of the paper bit by bit.
