Marisa Gomez
This project applies core concepts from fermentation— such as alteration, chance, and time—to design. Using both physical and digital explorations, the project shows what new visual languages can be created using these methods. We can utilize our microbial allies to create beautiful patterns and imagery.
The project was completed over the course of my final year at the Maryland Institute College of Art and ended with an exhibition and discussion with visiting thesis critic Silas Munro on April 8th 2019.
A lot of fermenting at home went into my research stages in the beginning of my thesis. From making pickles to kimchi, I experimented with different methods to understand the process more deeply.
What does a fermentation vessel look like when its been fermented? Using a piece of fermented photographic film, I used the pattern left behind by the microbes to create a pattern on the outside of the vessel in order to capture the essence of the structural changes food goes through when it is fermented.
After finding out the basic pattern left behind on film after it was fermented, I tried fermenting in different ways, to achieve different results with food and microbes interaction with the film. Film was fermented with blueberries, radishes, and cabbage to achieve these drastically different imprints on the film.
