Yearning for Colour. Pigment-Producing Bacteria fulfilling Fashionable Desires
by Julia Moser (AT)
FASHION & TECHNOLOGY
Humans’ desire to express through colour dates to prehistoric times. Colours serve as a means of communication and expression, directly triggering feelings of relaxation, as well as tense and intense emotions. An unconscious use of colours and dyes, however, harms the environment tremendously and can be seen in rivers that shimmer in all imaginable colours. Toxic and polluted, they destroy the habitat of living creatures that depend on clean water. But not all coloured waters result from this devastating use. Under certain conditions, bacteria produce pigments that turn entire lakes into brilliant colours. The bacteria of these waters are isolated, and the „living pigments“ they produce, and their potential to dye textiles, is explored. The result is a sustainable dyeing method using bacteria from naturally coloured waters, which requires hardly any water and makes the hidden colours of our environment visible.