Dactylopius coccus or Cochineal bugs are famous throughout art history as the producers of the most luxurious and durable red pigment. Starting as early as the Aztec era, these tiny creatures are still used today as colorant E120 or Carmine in candies, yogurts, and even cosmetics. The history of this insect goes further, and involves the making of the color blue and even poisonous gas.
In a hands-on workshop, we will try to taste cochineals, grind them, and find ways to dye fabrics red.
Dr. Ruta Spelskyte is an artist, researcher, and lecturer at Vilnius Academy of Arts. She works with alchemical structures, creating pigments, liquids, and shamanic instruments based on true and fictional stories. Her work explores living organisms, in the attempt to find balance between usage and cohabitation, imagining future worlds of intraactivity and extro science fiction. At the moment her main interest is in human geology and the octahedral geometry of magnetite.
In three different workshops, Dr. Spelskyte will introduce three different bugs and their unique properties, and explore how we use and learn from them.
Supported by the Lithuanian Culture Institute.