From my past projects, I had a basic knowledge of biomaterials and had started working with them. I wasn’t confident in the process but was very interested in the development. To gain more knowledge on the processes I researched some online resources focusing on recipes for Biodesign innovations some with specific examples and some more general examples, these included Materion, recipes for material activism, and the Chemarts cookbook. At the point of my research, I still felt not confident and I would achieve this confidence through experimentation. To start looking at these recipes seemed daunting due to my lack of scientific knowledge. To move forward, I started researching modern Biodesigning brands and practitioners, inquiring for interviews, and investing in brand research.
The brands and practitioners I researched were Victoria Gernary, Argo, Helen Storey, Orange Fibre, Carol Collet, Anna Dumitriu, and more documented in my sketchbook alongside my research profiles for the following. I got the chance to discuss my ideas and interview Dr victoria Gernary which helped me motivate my practice, being able to talk to a practitioner who has explored this field with an artistic background not scientific made me feel a lot more confident. We discussed whether biodesign could be a sustainable solution for the fashion industry and her perspective helped me understand that one of the largest problems that has led to environmental instability is the process of mass production that is significant in the fashion industry. She also gave me a few tips for some features on creating the biomaterial with ingredients that can affect the quality of the product. I’ve documented the majority of our conversations and research in my sketchbook including an analysis of her thesis which discusses the collaboration between scientists and biodesigners, the landscape when she wrote her thesis was limited to collaborations between scientists and designers and she proves the revolution of this. Victoria also provided me with a lot of research sources and potential paths to follow with the branding of Symbiosis.
