Marieke Broertjes

Dutch Design Week shirts

changing fabrics with micro organisms

In collaboration with Alejandro Tauber (vice) we did some experiments with the goal of coloring/changing fabrics with bacteria or fungi.

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Alejandro selecting a single colony - Marieke Broertjes

Living paint

We wanted to make a change in the fabric of tshirts with living micro organisms. Some research showed that it might be possible to derive bacteria from soil that make pigments (Natsai Chieza). There is also a variety of fungi that might stain fabrics.
So first we collected samples from the roots of plants growing around Mediamatic.

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Collecting soil samples - Anne van Waveren

With: Marieke Broertjes

Isolate the colors

The first cultures showed a dense mix of fungi and bacteria. We tried to isolate te colored bacteria and fungi in seperate petridishes. Then we put them on fabrics.

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Bacteria from soil samples -

Fabric tests

Now we are trying to make the colored bacteria and fungi grow on the fabric. Hopefully they will leave their mark.

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Red bacteria isolated from the soil samples -

With: Marieke Broertjes

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Green mould on fabrics - Marieke Broertjes

To be continued!