The Beauty Curse - Frock Paper Scissors

Test-tube Trinkets
WORDS Madelaine Brown
PHOTOGRAPHY Yohan Budiman
The jewellery you see on this page is made of human skin cells.
Pressures from an environmentally conscious public have forced
designers and manufactures to evolve their methods for sourcing
product. Now there is a new form of renewable material rocking the
artistic world, and it all comes down to science. It’s called ‘Bio-art’. The
concept stems from a basic sustainability theory, creating a product using
pre-existing material.
Brisbane fashion designer, Rannulu De Zoysa, is collaborating with a
scientist to make jewellery pieces through bio-art techniques. The head
piece pictured is made from skin cells grown in a laboratory environment
using tissue culturing.
De Zoysa’s interest in a more sustainable method for fashion design grew
from what he saw during visits to international garment factories while
working as part of a design team in California. “There were tons of smelly,
decaying textiles discarded in landfill sites that were going to stay there for
years to come. It was basically careless consumer and manufacturer consumption,”
he says.
After the initial research and experimental trials, the process takes
approximately six days to develop the pieces. “We have been able to achieve
different forms, and different textures such as smooth, glossy and corrugate,”
48 FROCK. paper. scissors
De Zoysa says. For example the headpiece shown has a velvety texture.
“We swabbed some of my skin cells for the scientist to put it into a tube.
We then gave it protein so that it grows. After a few days it’s about 8 by 4
inches. We then stop feeding it and add some chemicals to ensure the cells
are no longer alive. We add colour and mould it to the style we want.”
The trend towards the collaboration between scientific process and artistic
fashion is also a result of heightened creativity and artists ‘pushing the
boundaries’.
“It encourages designers to approach their work with an unexpected
creativity and experimentation to generate work that expresses their vision.
Most importantly there are more possibilities to have profound concepts
and original designs,” De Zoysa says.
The SoFA gallery, a division of the Indiana University, has a longstanding
exhibition exploring Bio-art pieces. Gallery director, Betsy Stirratt, is not
surprised by the collaboration claiming both “share an affinity for
experimentation and a desire to forge new frontiers in their fields”.
It’s to be expected that the technology will continue to grow as will the
designer’s imagination. So what is the future of the science-art paradigm?
Bio Fashion? It could be the future of textiles.
WX