7. BioFabricating Materials¶
What the week looked like¶
This week was Diwali vacation here in India and I was thankful that me and Shefali had already attempted the recepies for this week. I spent a lot of the week researching and looking at creations made from BioMaterials that were of interest to me.
Takeaways from Global Session¶
This session by Cecilia i personally wanted to focus on understanding the overall need for Bio-material innovation and the Various perspectives on how to make these.
To begin with, bio-materials are, by definition made from bio-based materials that are ideally abundant and locallly available, even if from waste streams. And they are bio-degradable and bio-compostable; hence creating relatively low impact on the enivronment.
What i found most intersting in the session was the statement: 'Design Materials with their entire lifecycle in mind'. So far, i have never actively thought of Material as being Designed; rather always as Designing with Material. So this perspective was extremely eye opening to me.
Apart from the amazing plathora of recepies and inpirational work that Cecilia walked us through, i put my main takeaways as follows:
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there are 2 main processes here: Crafting and Growing
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Bio-materials can be made of ingredients from Livning matter, vegetal matter, polymers and some inorganic matter
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The output from the recepie can take the format of a Bio-plastics, Bio-leathers, Bio-yarns and ropes, Non-wovens or bricks.
Checklist for the week¶
Personal thoughts and Ideas¶
So far, when i imagined my Final project, i was only thinking about more of digital prototyping based ready made materials. However, looking at the explorations that Cecelia shared, i have been considering expanding my research into potential not-ready made materials.
I have become particularly interested in using human and animal hair as a raw material, along with exploring how far can BioLeather be pushed with regards to its strength as a potential fabric.
Research & Inspiration¶
My interests in Hair as a biomaterial led me to some very intersting works by:
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Human Material Loop
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Zsofia Kollar
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Studio Savine
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Future Materials Bank
General subject matter works of Loes Bogers Amanda Jarvis Sacrlett Yang Vivian Labelle Olivia Cueva Suzanne Lee Bella Rofe
And seeing how most of these material experts are using hair as yarn/ thread, i was quite curious of how to do this in a diy fashion. So i found this very interestingly perfect video of how to make yarn with hair!!
Tools & Materials¶
TOOLS:¶
- Steel containers/ bowls/ pans (min 1 per material)
- Gas/ Stove/ Induction
- Electric Blender (very important)
- Measurement tools (cups, scales, spoons)
- Silicon molds / Baking tray (to cast the material)
- Tea Spoon / Stirring Spoon
- Gloves
- Rags
MATERIALS:¶
- Agar Powder
- Gelatin Powder
- Cornstarch Powder
- Vinegar bottle (small)
- Glycerin bottle (small)
- Food colourings (various preferable)
- Water
Work Flow:¶
Choosing Recepies¶
To begin with, it is extremely important to figure out the recipies that you have the resources and bandwidth to work on. For us, Shefali took the lead here to shortlist a long list of potential ones we could experiment with.
We arrived at the final ones primarily based on what all could be accomodated at her mom's kitchen (which is where we worked this week). We also ensured that we looked at recepies that required non-exotic inexpensive produce that we could pickup from the local market.
Most of the factors that influenced our decision were based on the number of tools needed, the relative ease of the entire process and number of simultaneous stoves we had access to. Luckily for us, aunty had a 5 gas stove so we were able to work on 5 recipies simultaneously!
Preparing Workspace¶
This, according to me, is one of the MOST important step, once the materials have been sourced and recipies finalised.
Based on the instructions for making the shortlisted recipies, it was apparent that having a workspace with ample shelf surfaces and undisturbed storage space is most important, since a lot of experimentations need to be laid out, while working simultaneously on recepies.
The next important element for us was access to ample stoves/ heating devices and random kitchen utensils; sometimes to decant and other times to stir or hold.
We also had the privilege of access to a sink and help with cleaning. Based on the number of swatches we made, we did create quite a mess in the kitchen, and having constant assiatance really helped.
Making 'Grown Materials'¶
Agar based Bio-Plastic¶
* 1 teaspoon Agar powder
* 3 tablespoons Water
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin
* 1 drop food coloring *(we used green)*
Preparing:
* In a small pan, mix the agar powder with water.
* Heat on low untill the mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
* Add glycerin and continue stirring untill smooth.
* We added green food colouring for a slight tint.
Casting:
* Pour the mixture onto a flat surface or mold.
* Let it cool and harden for about 24 hours.
Gelatin & Glycerin based Bio-Plastic¶
* 3 tablespoon Gelatin
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin
* 1/2 cup Water
* 1 drop food colouring *(we used blue)*
Mixing:
* Heat water in a pan until warm (but not boiling), and dissolve the gelatin in it.
* Add glycerin and stir untill fully mixed.
* We added orange food colouring for a slight tint.
Casting:
* Pour the mixture onto a flat surface or mold.
* Let it cool and harden for about 24 hours.
Potato Starch based Bio-Plastic¶
* 1 large Potato (to extract starch)
* 1 tablespoon Vinegar
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin
* 2 cups Water
* 1 drop food coloring *(we used pink)*
Preparing:
* Grate the potato and soak it in water for 10 minutes.
* Strain the water into another bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. Starch will settle at the bottom.
* Pour off the water, leaving the starch behind.
Mixing:
* In a pan, mix the potato starch with water, vinegar and glycerin.
* Heat the mixture on low, stirring untill it thickens.
* We added blue food colouring for a slight tint.
Casting:
* Pour the mixture onto a flat surface or mold.
* Allow it cool and dry for 24-48 hours.
Banoffee Leather¶
* 4 Banana peels
* 1 tablespoon Coffee ground
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin
* 1 tablespoon Vinegar
* 2 cups Water
Preparing:
* Boil the banana peels in water for 30 mins to soften them.
* Once they cool a little, blend the boiled peels into a smooth paste.
Mixing:
* In a pan, take the paste and put the coffee ground, while heating.
* Add glycerin and vinegar and keep stirring until it thickens.
Casting:
* Pour the mixture onto a flat surface or mold.
* Allow it cool and dry for about 1-2 days.
Spinach Leaf Bio-Plastic¶
* 2 cups fresh Spinach (or other leafy greens)
* 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
* 1 tablespoon Vinegar
* 1 tablespoon Glycerin
Preparing:
* Boil the spinach leaves in water for about 30 mins untill they are soft.
* Blend the boiled leaves into a paste.
Mixing:
* In a pan, mix the leaf paste with coenstarch, vinegar and glycerin.
* Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly untill it thickens.
Casting:
* Pour the mixture onto a flat surface or mold.
* Let it cool and dry for 1-2 days.
Making 'Crafted Materials'¶
Kombucha Leather¶
* Filtered water only
* Kombucha SCOBY
* Starter Tea
* 1 tbsp Black Tea
* 4 tbsp Organic Sulphur free Sugar
* Wide mouth glass jar
* Tea strainer/ Nylon sieve
* Coffee Filter paper/ Tight cloth
* Rubber band
* Flat tray
Preparing the Starter Tea:
* Before begining, all tools and jars need to be cleaned with hot water and vinegar; to ensure there are no germs.
* Boil 1 lt of filtered water.
* Stir in 4 tbsp Sugar and 1 tbsp black tea.
* Let the mixture brew till you can smell the tea.
* Strain the tea and it is very important to let it cool down to room temperature.
Growing the leather:
* Pour the cooled tea into the wide-mouth jar.
* Gently lay the SCOBY and pour the Starter tea on top.
* Cover the jar with the cloth or filter paper, and secure it with a rubber band.
* Place the jar in a cool dark cozy corner for 2-4 weeks.
* The SCOBY will start forming the leather layer over the Starter tea's surface.
* Regularly keep checking on the jar and keep feeding the sugar tea to the SCOBY
Harvesting the leather:
* Once the SCOBY mat is 1-2cm thick, this grown leather is ready to be extracted.
* Carefully remove the SCOBY layer from the jar and give it a gentle rinse under the water to remove any leftover tea on the surface
* Lay the SCOBY flat on a clean tray or drying rack and let it dry in a warm well ventilated space, but NOT in direct sunlight.
* Keep flipping the sides occasionally to ensure even drying.
Images
Material Analysis¶
Agar based Bio-Plastic¶
* Surface : Textured Matt
* Sight : Translucent
* Bendable
* Slight Stretch
* Not Strong
* Lightweight
* Rubbery
* The bio-plastic is glossy and vibrant in colour. Even though the layer was cast a bit thick, there is still ample flexibility in the material.
Gelatin & Glycerin based Bio-Plastic¶
* Surface : Glossy Shiny Smooth
* Sight : Transparent
* Bendable
* Stretch
* Strong
* Lightweight
* Rubbery
* The bio-material has s smooth surface and is cool to the touch. It cotinues to have a little bit of tackines even after drying.
Potato Starch based Bio-Plastic¶
* Surface : Textured Smooth Shiny
* Sight : Translucent
* Bendable
* Stretch
* Fragile
* Lightweight
* Rubbery
* The bio-material fells quite smooth and stretchy; almost rubber like. And the shift of the colour from soft pink to muted pastel yello orange is very fascinating.
Banoffee Leather¶
* Surface : Fibrous Woven Rough Textured
* Sight : Opaque Shiny
* Bendable
* Stretch
* Strong
* Lightweight
* Rubbery
* This material has impressive flexibility despite hardening really well. Its materiality and durability genuinely feels like leather.
Spinach Leaf Bio-Plastic¶
* Surface : Textured
* Sight : Opaque
* Bendable
* Stretch
* Fragile
* Lightweight
* Rubbery
* Aside from how the material looks, the material has a thin, papery texture and an earthy rustic feel to the touch.
Kombucha Leather¶
* Surface : Textured
* Sight : Translucent
* Flexible
* Bendable
* Durable
* Leathery
* Lightweight
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* The SCOBY dried up felt textured and smooth like leather. It became much more thinner and darker than it was before.
Material Lifecycle stages Hypothesis¶
Knowing bombay weather, we do not have high hopes for how long the material will survive.
Luckliy for us, it was rather hot and dry weather during this week. However, once the humidty rises and we are in peak rainy season, our expectations are that these pieces will soom catch Mould and Fungus.
In the absence of temperature controlled storage, we will eventually have to discard these pieces. However, the good thing is that since these are bio-degradable, this shouldn't be so bad.
Learnings¶
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Being cognisant of our scope of setup/ infrastructre really helped us be efficent with the sort of recepies that we picked up and the variations that we could experiment with. There are learnings from simpler experiments as well. And these experiments offered us a lot of scope to push for more explorations.
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I was really thankful that we were experimenting in a Kitchen. Had it been a lab, i doubt we could find as innovative solutions on such short notice. Hopefully, for next time, we can furnish our lab better to be able to forsee this.
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It was intersting to see colours darken/ lighten once the biomaterials dried. Also did not expect the materials to be so malleable once they dried down.
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This week i got to work together with Shefali and working together really was beautiful teamwork where we could support each other and fill in the gaps. It was a nudge for me to try attempting more challenging experimental projects together.
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Slowly and steadily, i started to get a lot more intersted in Bio-materials, than i ever thought i would be. Especially now, getting an insight into the world of brewing and making material from scratch in a kitchen; i am finding a new found interst in the cutting edge explorations in the use of Bio-materials by designers across various sectors.
People to thank for this week¶
Shefali: whose research on recepies and insights ensured this week was as smoothsailing as possible
Shefali's Mom: without whose support, be it her Kitchen or her quick wit throughout, this week's project would not have been possible at all!! She opened up her entire kitchen and resources for our experimentation and i will forever be grateful.