“Infective Textiles” is a textile-based artwork taking the form of a Regency-style dress stained with bacterial pigments and natural dyes, and patterned by antimicrobial substances. The project used ‘kitchen’ science methods and ‘DIY’ microbiological processes to explore notions of infection control.
Microbes were cultured from the environment including soil, buildings, and other public places. The silk thread was stained with natural and clinical antibiotics – including cloves, turmeric, green tea and vancomycin – and used to create embroidered patterns (based on microscopic images of bacteria and historic Regency designs) on fabric.
The dress pieces were placed in a ‘giant petri dish’ filled with DIY culture media made from supermarket products, upon which environmental bacteria, selected because of the attractive natural pigments they were producing (burnt oranges, rose pinks etc.), were grown. The dress pieces were then pasteurised and then stitched together.
Credit: The Infective Textiles project was led by Anna Dumitriu and created in collaboration with Dr Melissa Grant, Dr Brian Degger, Dr Rosie Sedgwick and Sarah Roberts. Thanks to Dr John Paul, Dr James Price and Alex May for their invaluable assistance and inspiration with this project. Created as part of Laboratory Life, a project curated by The Arts Catalyst, Lighthouse and Andy Gracie
Materials: Calico, embroidery silk, natural antimicrobial dyes, killed bacteria
Year: 2011
