.HERBARIUM SEED1010

Seed1010 is a silkscreen displaying a frame obtained from the initial experiments of Artificial Botany .herbarium.

Artificial Botany has been the series that familiarised us with the realisation of physical, tangible artworks. It was through Artificial Botany that we seriously embarked on this exploration and delved deeply into the realms of prints and silkscreens.

We collaborated with a local studio in Modena, named Medulla: merging colour research and craftsmanship, the studio engages in the creation of prints using exclusively organic and natural pigments. For Seed1010, instead of the canonical primary printing colours, the studio used an experimental four-colour system adapted to the use of pigments extracted from plants. This silkscreen series merges elements of both the digital and natural realms, blending disparate techniques that apparently seem to belong to opposite territories but that, instead, complement each other.

The starting digital image was first broken down into the four colour levels to obtain the high-resolution screen-printed frames, made with a fabric of 100 threads per linear centimetre with a diameter of 40 microns.

At this point, the four colours of the ordinary classification (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) were replaced with colours obtained from natural pigments extracted by hand (Guado, Turmeric, Cochineal and a mixture of indigo, chlorophyll, madder and graphite to obtain black). Lastly, a reinforcement of green with chlorophyll extract was then inserted transforming the screen print into a pentachrome. For each frame, a new layer of colour was then added with manual pressure at different intensities to enhance the various chromatic details of the starting botanical illustration. The paper on which the silkscreen print was produced is a hand-printed Arctic Paper Munken Print, FSC, PEFC, Ecolabel certified, 300g/m2 antiquated with a tea and coffee leaf bath. The entire printing process is carbon neutral.

CUBO Unipol, 2022

Seed1010 is an artwork by fuse*

Hand-printed silkscreen by Medulla

Exhibitions

CUBO Unipol, Bologna (IT)