GMU:Different Worlds/Anna Wissmueller

INSIDE AND OUTSIDE WE ARE THE SAME

It's Physarum's world and we're just living in it

finishes pieces

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Impressions of the process:

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How to create Physarum clothes: Take a look at Experiments to see how i learnt how to grow Physarum Poloycephalum.

I grow Physarum in a stable environment: a petri-dish and Agar Agar as a medium. To make the Physarum grow, I feed it with oat flakes once every day. After four to five days the Physarum will start growing out of the petri-dish. Or not - it is a living organism after all with its own moods and sometimes strange behaviours. After spilling out of the petri-dish it continues growing on plastic foil that i layed under the petri-dish. Or it dries out completly. Again, it is not possible to foresee exactly how it will behave. Sometimes it can be refreshed with some drops of water and continue growing on the plastic foil. Sometimes not, the experiment has failed and I need to prepare another petri-dish with agar.

If the Physarum continues to grow on the plastic foil, I lay this foil on the clothing piece I want to create with Physarum. Under the first layer of fabric has to be some aluminium foil so the Physarum stays put on one layer of fabric and does not grow on the back of the shirt. This results in four layers:

aluminium

fabric

Physarum

Plastic foil

To press the Physarum into the clothes I used seven to nine books and a 5-kilo and a 1-kilo weight that I positioned on the plastic foil. It takes around a week to completley press the Physarum, after that it is dormant and the clothes can be stored and worn. The result looks a bit like batik.

When the Physarum did not grow on the plastic foil and only spilled out of the petri-dish I manually put the Physarum on plastic foil and pressed it on the fabric in the same way I did before. The results are very different.

The fabric looks more stained and brown. And it took a long time to completely dry it. It did not dry completly under the weights, instead I air-dryed it after 5 days under the weights.

How to wear & wash it

The Physarum on the clothes is completely dry. The Physarum will be revived when water is added - so be careful in the rain!

If you want to wash the piece you have to add some water droplets on the Physarum and gently scrape it of with a spoon or something similiar. The Physarum should then be placed into a coffee filter to store it. It can be revived for the next shirt. The piece without the Physarum can be washed.

The Philosophy

Could you think of your project in terms of sustainability? Social, economic, ecological? Could you think of the impact on the “other” bubble? How does your project contribute to the aspects?

Fast fashion is one of the biggest climate killers in terms of water pollution, garbage production and c02 output. The fashion industry needs to focus on regrowing ecological media that does not harm the environment. Physarum can be the suitable medium for this problem. It is fast and cheap to grow and will not pollute or harm nature. After ist use for fashion and clothes it will simply become a part of nature again.

Technical solution - how to produce Physarum clothes

To create Physarum clothing pieces, the Physarum has to be grwon on plastic foil. The foil is then pressed on the fabric by placing weight on the Physarum/the foil. After a week the Physarum is dried and the clothing is ready to wear.

The progress: Experiments