UrbanBeeLab

Natural material, rubber like, flexible, Amber hues, soft and hard, warm, liquid and solid

28 January - 03 February 2016 ⇒ first tests with plant cellulose material.
I tried several combinations of quantities, but the main ingredients were: Psyllium (Plantago ovata), agar agar or (later) glycerine, water and (in some experiments) pollen.

Description of the photo documentation (from left to right):

1. ingredients for the first experiments: Psyllium (Plantago ovata), water, agar agar. Once the ingredients are mixed, the thick paste sets quickly.
2. paste + pollen, spread out evenly. The pollen are dissolved in hot water. The hot water makes the paste thicker and more difficult to handle.
3. after 20h of drying
4. still 'wet'- possible to flatten out
5. experimenting with 'embossing' in the wet paste
6. weaving tests - have to be made when strings are still flexible
7. material hardens out in a rigid way, due to agar agar
8. new tests with glycerol 85% instead of agar agar. Material stays much more flexible.
9. test to mould the material over half a sphere
10. images 10-15: fungus colonizing a thick piece of wet material (Psyllium+pollen) ⇒ risk of fungus if material cannot dry out fast enough

2-7 February 2016 ⇒
A larger piece of fabric was woven out of multiple strings. The string were a mix of white Psyllium, and Psyllium mixed with pollen (yellow) + agar agar. The pollen-mix is a bit more difficult to handle, thicker, more rigid. I've put the fabric between 2 plexiglass plates which I used as a press to flatten the piece. After a few days mould started growing, especially in the zone where the Psyllium was mixed with the pollen. The mould later spread out also on the non-pollen zones. I took some samples to study under the microscope and throw away the rest of the test.
The experiment with glycerol 85% is more satisfying. The fabric stays supple. After 36 hours it is possible to handle the material: cut with a scissor and drape it over a sphere. I tried to weave threads down the sphere, but therefore the material was still too wet and fragile. The top part was OK, but half of the the hanging parts broke down.

6-12 February 2016 ⇒
I made several new combinations to test on strength, flexibility and drying time. I bought nice containers at Modulor, perfect for executing the tests. In the square containers, I made equal mixes of Psyllium and water, with a different quantity of glycerol 85% (1 spoon, 1.1/2 spoon, 2 spoons). I filled a bigger container with pollen and a relative higher quantity of glycerol to keep also this pollen-fabric flexible.
The square containers were filled till the top (1.1/2cm), the large pollen-container was filled with a layer of ± 8mm thick.
I put each of the containers for 2 hours in a warm-air oven heated to 50°C to kickstart the drying process. The paste became more solid after this time, and I hope it will be a good remedy against mould invasions. I will leave the rest of the drying process in a natural way.