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2019

2025

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Project Coelicolor: Terroir 001, Assemblage 002

It was designed by Natsai Audrey Chieza and firm: Faber Futures. It is dated 2019. Its medium is textile (terroir 001) and dust coat (assemblage 002) of silk and streptomyces coelicolor pigment. It is a part of the department.

Natsai Audrey Chieza dyes textiles with pigment-producing microbes, including Streptomyces coelicolor, found in plant roots. These bacteria-dyed silks range in color from red to purple and blue, controlled through variables such as time and acidity. The amount of oxygen impacts color proliferation. Chieza’s continued research looks at increased scalability in the process, offering an alternative to traditional textile dyeing, which is water intensive and highly polluting.

It is credited Courtesy of Natsai Audrey Chieza.

  • Kimono (Japan)
  • silk.
  • Gift of Masao Aida, Isao Uchida, Airo Aida, and Yuki Ikuta.
  • 2014-29-1
  • Sidewall Sample (France)
  • machine-printed.
  • Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment and Friends of....
  • 2001-14-46

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This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318798886/ |title=Project Coelicolor: Terroir 001, Assemblage 002 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>