Between Craft & Technology
The Ink Project
Research
The Ink Project – Between craft and technology, researches the potential crossover between the tradition of making ink with organic materials and its application to ink-jet printing.
Together with plants and living organisms such as fungi, algae, and lichens, we can create sustainable bio-based inks as an alternative to most synthetic ones applied by the industry. The intention of the project is to stimulate awareness and investigate methods to create ecological solutions in the field of digital printing.
A bridge between past and future
How can bio-based ink be adapted to ink-jet printing techniques, and what would the results be? Can the tradition of ink-making be applied to digital technology taking into account an interconnective approach with our ecosystem?
By testing the behavior of this interconnection, "The Ink Project: Between Craft and Technology" aims to help solve the environmental issues caused by synthetic ink in the printing field and find sustainable alternatives.
The European Printing Ink Association states that in Europe, some 1 million tonnes of ink and coatings, costing €3 billion are consumed by printers of all kinds of products every year (source Eupia). Most printing ink in commerce contains harmful chemicals, refined oil,
and heavy metals which are harmful to our health and the environment. Synthetic dyes, binders, and preservatives are a substantial cause of water and soil pollution in the printing industry. Instead, ink made with organic matter is alive and changing: it invites a relationship with printing technologies where seasons, soil, and the Ph of the ingredients are part of the conversation.
Researcher
Greta Desireèe Facchinato in The Garden of Colors, July 2023. Photography by Maryse Aalbers
Greta Desirèe Facchinato is a research-based multidisciplinary artist and designer. Through the crossflow of different mediums and the investigation of daily life encounters, gestures, and materials her practice invites us to experience matter from an embodied awareness. She is currently researching how we can re-learn our knowledge of color through interconnectedness with our environment and the practice of sustainable ink-making, with a focus on printing techniques. In recent years she has been interested in a shift towards a more holistic and sustainable practice, paying attention to the choice of materials/production methods and considering inanimate substances - such as ink - as living matter.
