4. What is Biochrome?

According to Merriem-Webster dictionary: Definition of biochrome : a coloring matter that can be extracted from a plant or animal : a natural pigment.

For my project of exploring Biochromes, the exploration began as I began looking for certain colors that were produced by the food I eat as well as by the colors that I wanted to extract.

Some of the colors I was interested were Greens, Peach, Purples and Blood Red. After observing and learning from my fellow mates on how to prepare natural dyes from food, I spend a whole evening carefully choosing the fruits and plants that I needed to work. My shopping experience was different unlike other, where I was actually researching on google at my fingertips while shopping, which otherwise I would be just grabbing an item and heading to checkout. I find this part interesting. Could working with biochromes change our shopping experience and behavior?

Process

Ingredients picked up

The ingredients that I grabbed and worked with are

  1. Ruman (Pomegrenate)

  1. Nanaa (Mint Leaves)

  1. Enab Ahmar (Red Grapes)

  1. Summac (Sumac)

  1. Toot-Al-Aleeq (BlackBerry Mures)

  1. Karkadeh (Hibiscus)

As you can notice, I have added the Arabic name of the ingredients, so that it gives us the opportunity to learn something new in Arabic. Ruman and Enab are fruits mentioned in the Quran too. Mint and Hibiscus are can be grown here in Qatar.

Fibres and Necessary Items

Fabrics/Fibers Experimented With Few fabrics provided to work with were

1) Cotton

2) Linen

3) Organza

4) Kashmere

5) Wool

6) Felt

Steps and Images

All fabrics were scoured and was treated with Alum as mordant. Around 8% to 15% of WOF of Alum was used respectively for the respective fabric type.

Ruman was boiled for 20 minutes. 101 grams of the rind of the ruman was boiled with one glass of water.

Mint was boiled for 20 minutes. 24 grams of water was boiled in 1 glass of water.

Enab was boiled for 30 minutes. 200 grams of red grapes was boiled in 1 glass of water.

Sumac was boiled for 30 minutes. The sumac quantity was around 6 spoons for 1 and half glass of water.

Toot Aleeq: Although 44 grams of blackberry was initially used, about 100 grams were added more and crushed in one glass of water while boiling.

Karkadeh: 3 spoons of dried Karkadeh was boiled for 3o mins in one and half glass of water.

Follwoing are the images of the outcomes when mixed with the different modifiers at the same temperature and cooled down in five minutes.

PROCESS OF DYEING

FINAL OUTCOMES

All fabric were left to soak overnight.

Creating Away

Capturing Moments Video

From Vimeo

When Blackberry extract mixes with Baking Soda from Rabab on Vimeo.

Color Swatch