From Fungi to Fossil Fuels: Uncovering the Origins of the World's Most Famous Dyes
By Lauren MacDonald. Edited by Ananda Pellerin.
An engrossing look at the rich and turbulent history of coloring cloth
Over the centuries our manipulation of the natural world has resulted in an explosion of synthetic dye production and application globally. To gain insight into the history of how folk practices have been lost and technical processes found, anthropologist and textile artist Lauren MacDonald explores a practice that is both ancient and wholly modern: coloring cloth. The pursuit of color has long spurred economic and social contest, and through this deeply researched volume we explore the stories that the materials used to dye cloth tell us about our complex relationship to nature, our troubling ideas about progress and our understanding of power and labor. In Pursuit of Color brings together historic techniques, archive photography, specimens and present-day events to tell the histories of some of the world’s most important dyestuffs. A 32-page supplement accompanies the volume, detailing practical applications and the chemistry behind dyeing processes. The book comes in three different covers (red, yellow and blue) which are shipped randomly as a further happy surprise. Lauren MacDonald (born 1990) is a Canadian-born multidisciplinary artist, designer and founder of the London, UK textiles studio Working Cloth. She has a background in material culture, textile science and fashion.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times: Design
Eve Kahn
Gathering ingredients for textile dyes can be brutal, lethal work, documented by the designer and researcher Lauren MacDonald in “In Pursuit of Color.” She analyzes practices dating from thousands of years for pulverizing flora, fauna, fungi, fossils and fuels into potions for saturated hues.
Hyperallergic
Lauren Moya Ford
In Pursuit of Color gracefully weaves together archaeological findings, scientific oddities, colonial injustices, and pressing current events, offering new insights into the textiles we live with and new reasons to appreciate what we already have.
Hyperallergic
Well-researched and comprehensive, this vibrant volume won’t just add a pop of color to your shelves — it’ll teach you about it, too.
Hyperallergic
Well-researched and comprehensive, this vibrant volume won’t just add a pop of color to your shelves — it’ll teach you about it, too.
Art Spiel
Paul D’Agostino
In Pursuit of Color merits accolades as an excellent, informative book that’s both scholarly and accessible, and as a uniquely constructed creative achievement.
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Featured spreads are from In Pursuit of Color, an engaging study of the origins of the world’s most important dies. Beautifully printed with three different-colored covers (red, blue and yellow) and featuring a bound-in supplement on dyeing principles and procedures, it tells the history and origins of some of the world’s most famous dyes via four categories: Flora, Fauna, Fungi and Fossil Fuels. “Like textiles, dyes are everywhere, speaking to us in ways we take for granted,” author Lauren MacDonald writes. “When we see a person dressed in teal-green scrubs we know they’re likely a nurse or doctor; while police uniforms are so strongly associated with the color navy that cops are often referred to as the ‘boys in blue.’ We have a cultural understanding of what colors mean, whether it’s on our clothes, in the decor of our homes, or out in the streets. But most of us don’t know how our plump sofa cushions were made green, or why our jeans turn that perfect shade of faded blue.” continue to blog
Featured spreads are from In Pursuit of Color, an engaging study of the origins of the world’s most important dies. Beautifully printed with three different-colored covers (red, blue and yellow) and featuring a bound-in supplement on dyeing principles and procedures, it tells the history and origins of some of the world’s most famous dyes via four categories: Flora, Fauna, Fungi and Fossil Fuels. “Like textiles, dyes are everywhere, speaking to us in ways we take for granted,” author Lauren MacDonald writes. “When we see a person dressed in teal-green scrubs we know they’re likely a nurse or doctor; while police uniforms are so strongly associated with the color navy that cops are often referred to as the ‘boys in blue.’ We have a cultural understanding of what colors mean, whether it’s on our clothes, in the decor of our homes, or out in the streets. But most of us don’t know how our plump sofa cushions were made green, or why our jeans turn that perfect shade of faded blue.” continue to blog
In Pursuit of Color From Fungi to Fossil Fuels: Uncovering the Origins of the World's Most Famous Dyes
Published by Atelier Éditions/D.A.P.. By Lauren MacDonald. Edited by Ananda Pellerin.
An engrossing look at the rich and turbulent history of coloring cloth
Over the centuries our manipulation of the natural world has resulted in an explosion of synthetic dye production and application globally. To gain insight into the history of how folk practices have been lost and technical processes found, anthropologist and textile artist Lauren MacDonald explores a practice that is both ancient and wholly modern: coloring cloth. The pursuit of color has long spurred economic and social contest, and through this deeply researched volume we explore the stories that the materials used to dye cloth tell us about our complex relationship to nature, our troubling ideas about progress and our understanding of power and labor.
In Pursuit of Color brings together historic techniques, archive photography, specimens and present-day events to tell the histories of some of the world’s most important dyestuffs. A 32-page supplement accompanies the volume, detailing practical applications and the chemistry behind dyeing processes. The book comes in three different covers (red, yellow and blue) which are shipped randomly as a further happy surprise.
Lauren MacDonald (born 1990) is a Canadian-born multidisciplinary artist, designer and founder of the London, UK textiles studio Working Cloth. She has a background in material culture, textile science and fashion.
