Week 9: MoMA Exhibit, Natural Watercolors Continued (Blue, Brown)

Welcome back to Week 9 of my blog! 

I began this week by visiting The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for their exhibit: Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, which is open through July 7th. Curated by Paola Antonelli and Maya Ellerkmann, the exhibit showcases innovative approaches to design that prioritize environmental responsibility. It featured work that embraces indigenous and non-Western attitudes towards sustainability, such as Fernando Laposse’s corn-husk panels (see Figure 1) and some of Studio Klarenbeek & Dros’ algae geographies (see Figure 2).

There were also several mycelium pieces on display (see Figures 3,4)! At the museum, I also stumbled upon the book, Biodesign: Nature + Science + Creativity by William Myers, which “profiles design projects that integrate biology in an original way” (https://www.biology-design.com/). The book showcased David Benjamin’s bio-engineered bricks of corn stalks and mycelium, among other incredible projects. Highly recommend checking it out (see citation link). 

At the lab this week, I continued to monitor the mini mycelium spawn bags and added a small amount of distilled water to help encourage growth, as the substrates looked dry. So far, no mold! The mycelium cultures on the agar plates that have been incubating on the side have continued to grow successfully as well. 

I also experimented with making new colors for the palette this week. I made a blue pigment using butterfly pea flower tea and made brown with coffee beans. I used a mortar and pestle to ground the substances into finer powders and then combined these with the extra watercolor binder pigment I made last week, pouring the mixtures into more of the small temporary cardboard containers.

In addition to exploring the exhibit and making additional paints, I made progress on my final presentation. 

See you next week!

Additional MoMa Exhibition Highlights: