Mr. Maarten Kolk

algengroei01

algengroei02

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For the Audax Textielmuseum Tilburg we’ve tried to design our fascination for water. Textile and water do not seem to have too much in common, but they are indissolubly connected by the industry. The textile industry is one of the biggest polluters of water in the world. For this reason we didn’t just portray water, but we developed production methods that spare the water as much as possible. We experimented with digital printing on textile, different type of unbleached and uncoated yarns, and all kind of weaves. We tried to enlarge the surface of the prints by adding very little water to the production process. This water was fully absorbed by the farbric, so no water was wasted. The combination of material, weave and way of adding water to the process resulted in unique effects on the textile.
As prints we used photographs of water. To shoot these photographs we went to Iceland, the country where durability and water go hand in hand. With its glaciers, geothermal spas, geysers, rivers, waterfalls, fjords, oceans and lakes this turned out to be the perfect location to document our starting point.
The research has resulted in a series of textiles. The table cloth, grand foulard, tea towels, autonomous objects and rug all carry the general name “Waterloop” (Flow of water).

Algal Bloom
Every time the printer of the museum finishes making a print it is automatically being cleaned. The machine takes a little ink off all print heads and stores it in a jerry can. The “Algengroei” rug is dyes with this waste ink of the printer. The ink is added onto the back of the tufted rug of unbleached linen. The rug is dyed in a color gradient. In the middle of the carpet the piles are fully dyed, while at the sides only the roots of the piles are colored.
 

Skills