Shaping Herbariums : Tool Making & Botanical Printing
One of the aims of this workshop is to raise awareness of colour production and printing methods based on natural resources. By combining different traditional and digital production techniques, it provides an introduction to certain eco-printing methods, while drawing attention to local biodiversity that is often overlooked. Two versions of this workshop were set up in two different contexts: primary schools and a fablab. The version designed for schools focuses on developing a scientific and aesthetic sensitivity to local plants. This workshop unfolds a learning sequence that combines guided sensory observation to visually and haptically explore the plant specimens collected, the precise reproduction of plant nuances to create a collective plant colour chart, botanical drawing, the discovery of the printing technique using plant colouring matter and composition exercises using this technique that draw on artistic, botanical and mathematical concepts. The fablab version includes the manufacture of hammering tools using traditional woodworking machines, a phase of observation, collecting and identifying plants from the adjacent garden, an introduction to eco-printing techniques and a creative approach of compositional making use of the aesthetic and technical potential of a lasercut machine.
