Table of content

1. Weekly Documentation planning

2.Inspiration and research

3. Crafted Material
3.1.Gelatine Bioplastic

4. Grown Material
4.1.Kombucha film, foil & leather

5. Reflections

6. References:

Weekly Documentation planning

2. Inspiration and research

At first I made a quick research about Bio plastics. I found books published by Anastasia Pistofidou in Issuu which were really useful for this week's assignment.

I also found the material archive by Textile Amsterdam, is a really complete list of different materials and experimentations.

3. Crafted Material

For my crafted material I decide to work with Gelatine. Gelatine is an animal derived ingredient, made from the collagen present in animal parts. it comes in various forms, such as jelly, dry thin flat sheets or powder, in almost all cases it a translucent material, which can be easily coloured.

3.1. Gelatine Bioplastic

Gelatine bioplastics are crafted usually from powder, in combination with water and glycerine. Gelatine ponder is sensitive to heat. and starts melting already at about 60C degree; which makes it ideal for both cooking and recycling for now use.
Recycling of both leftovers and unwanted places is very easy simply by adding water and heat to the mix to re-hydrate and melt the mixture. It is then ready for casting again.

3.1.1. Results

I followed the recipe and place the material in different molds with different sizes. Here are my results:

4. Grown Material

For my grown material I decide to work with Microbial leather. It is made with Kombudia a fermented tea with a symbiotic colony of bacterial yeast (SCOBY).
Bacteria feed on a liquid medium of sugars and tea, start creating an acidic environment that allows them to thrive and spin cellulose layers.

4.1. Kombucha film, foil & leather

Kombucha can be grown at different thicknesses. It is a layered cellulose material, where the grown material is washed and then dried, either flat or in a shape

Results

I followed the recipe and place the material in a big mold. It took 2 weeks to get the thin foil. Here's the result:

5. Reflections

What went wrong

• I couldn't try other recipes, for some of them I didn't have the materials locally available.
• I couldn't integrated the pieces into a project yet.

What went right

• For my first time working with Kombucha and Biomaterials, the final result was really amazing.

6. References:

BioFabricating Materials-Fabricademy 2022

Weekly assignments

• 100%
  Include some inspiration
  
• 100%
  Produce at least one crafted and one grown material: crafted and Grown
  
• 100%
  Document your recipes, the ingredients and process and if there have been changes, document your unexpected discoveries
  
• 100%
  Name your materials, classify them by typology and display them in a systematic order of samples

Next Assignment >>>