WHAT DOES COLOUR MEAN
Ethnobotanic research into colour spectrum
With “What Does Colour Mean” I seek to restore the value of biodiversity with an installation that combines biology, craft, and local heritage.
Nature is not random, and the colours are a chemical reaction from minerals in the soil that forms plants, taking into account climatic and geological conditions. This analogue machine transforms plants into colour by inhabiting and replicating local ecosystems. The stories contained in the colours reveal the relation that local inhabitants have with the nature that surrounds them. With the natural dye process this information is captured into the colour, and the local water is the solvent for the plant to realise and manifest all the information. The machine is performing in loco, after collecting information from inhabitants and learning from them which are the plants and their local use. The machine is activated by pulling the yarn and creating a knitted textile result of an ecosystem colours.
This project has been realised thanks to the invaluable support and expertise of Mater Iniciativa, Local Expert Ceferina Atau, Santiago Pilco, Eddy Mishaja, Augustin Mishaja, Anthropologist Francesco D'angelo Piaggio, Biologist Jan Brack.
