NaSiS – “Sodium, Silicon + Sulfur: Alchemical Configurations of Salt, Sand and Sea”

About Facilitator

OUTOFSEAM is an artisanal research studio rooted in explorative inquiry, chemical transfiguration and mineral preservation, drawing from rituals of antiquity into extended future formations.  

Tajah Ellis is a biomaterial designer and researcher. Ellis’ craft centers organic shifts through investigative experimentation with earth matter, expressed through textiles and materiality. 

By centering process as a practice, Ellis has been able to contribute to the continuity of her environment through local initiatives by collecting discarded floral and food waste from local florists, gardens and grocery stores to organizing spaces for a full range of life stages including children and elders within her native Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn to collecting hardwoods and alginate from her ancestral home of Belize, Central America. 

Objective

Salt: Sodium (Na)

Sand: Silicon (Si)

Sun: Sulfur (S)

Organic changes of chemicals found in the sun above, sand below and salts around will be demonstrated. By boiling water and breaking minerals, we will observe a “show and tell” distribution of color compounds. These stages signify three distinct stages of transformation expressed through the color scale: light, medium and dark. We will use citric acid, salt, and iron to articulate this range of liquids and semi-liquids.  

The chemical compound expression of plant matter can be altered to create a variety of colors from one source. Students will create a range of colors from select dye material through acid and alkaline agents.

Whats Included

• Water
• pH modifiers 
• Glass jars 
• Silk material 
• Whisks 
• Pamphlets

What to Bring

• Yourself
• A notebook, if you wish!

Disclaimer

We will be working with chemicals that have the potential to cause itching, coughing or irritation. They will be dissolved within water before the arrival of the audience but please be mindful of this and wear a mask if you are weary

We will be sharing tea and snacks between 2-3 PM at One Love Community Fridge Studio, stick around for a day of dyeing!