On November 19th 2024, Aslı, Michelle and Cecilia tested out the intermediate version of the controllable water pump tool holder with various mordant pastes in the Textilelab. Aslı made the Grasshopper file and the design to be plotted, Michelle made the interactive water pump system and Cecilia mordanted the fabrics and prepared the bio inks. The printing method we explored this day is direct printing.
Colors
To prepare the fabrics for printing, we mordanted them with selfmade neutral acetate. Cecilia developed the following three bio inks, all three thickened with 1% guar gum.
- Cochineal for pink/magenta
- Dyer’s chamomile (anthemis tinctoria) for yellow
- Black hollyhock for blue/purple (less thickened with guar gom because the flowers themselves produce a thickening agent)
Responsiveness
We labeled the three buttons controlling the ink pumps with the corresponding color. We struggled with the responsiveness of the pumps: the 5V aquarium pumps had a lot of trouble pushing the thickened ink through the tubes. It took a long time before the ink would reach the canvas.
In this session, we tested how much the colors would bleed into each other and how long it takes before the next color takes over the previous color after changing it. We used the same sponge brush for the entire print. The brush functions as a reservoir by itself, since even after you stop pressing the corresponding button for the ink, there is still ink in the sponge. This is also why it takes a while before a color change becomes apparent, and why the colors are blending for a while after the next color is initialized. This is very visible in the following two plots.
We also made a test with a thinner sponge brush, which worked better. The sponge is smaller so the amount of ink that it can store is smaller too. This makes it respond quicker to changes in color.
Results
Here you can see the bioprinted results of the day.
