Spring Gleaning: Color Values at the Margin of Weed + Waste. Industrial fashion finds it hard to deal with natural materials,, and processes whose supplies are irregular, where availability is,, seasonal and limited, and when color-fastness cannot be,, guaranteed... Interestingly enough, for a new generation of,, designers and makers, these constraints and irregularities of,, natural materials are an inspiration, not a constraint. -John Thackera Through hands-on experimentation and place-based research, this course will focus on gleaning color sources from weeds and waste in Oakland and San Francisco urban environments, on syncing up with the greater Bay Area's rich biodiversity of both flavor and color, and on experimenting with liminal recipes for natural plant dyes. According to the Wikipedia definition: gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after,, they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is,, not economically profitable to harvest. By collecting these marginalized "true" hues-we will preserve their color "values" as future cultural, economic, and bioregional resources. In collaboration with Permacouture Institute, the course will utilize visual and written discussion and documentation to bring these gleaned color experiments to light within the public platform of social practice research. Through urban ecological forays and site-specific collaborations, we will actively contribute to the "slow" design movement-working with both rural and urban partners to gather weeds and waste for color making.
Spring Gleaning: Color Values at the Margin of Weed + Waste. Industrial fashion finds it hard to deal with natural materials,, and processes whose supplies are irregular, where availability is,, seasonal and limited, and when color-fastness cannot be,, guaranteed... Interestingly enough, for a new generation of,, designers and makers, these constraints and irregularities of,, natural materials are an inspiration, not a constraint. -John Thackera Through hands-on experimentation and place-based research, this course will focus on gleaning color sources from weeds and waste in Oakland and San Francisco urban environments, on syncing up with the greater Bay Area's rich biodiversity of both flavor and color, and on experimenting with liminal recipes for natural plant dyes. According to the Wikipedia definition: gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after,, they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is,, not economically profitable to harvest. By collecting these marginalized "true" hues-we will preserve their color "values" as future cultural, economic, and bioregional resources. In collaboration with Permacouture Institute, the course will utilize visual and written discussion and documentation to bring these gleaned color experiments to light within the public platform of social practice research. Through urban ecological forays and site-specific collaborations, we will actively contribute to the "slow" design movement-working with both rural and urban partners to gather weeds and waste for color making.