Blond & Bieber: Algaemy

With Algaemy Blond and Bieber investigate the potential of microalgae in a creative context, revealing the aesthetic potential of a resource which is mostly regarded as weeds within Europe.

The huge potential of microalgae has been a subject of research in natural sciences for quite some time. Meanwhile the artistic and creative value of this resource is mostly undiscovered land.

Algaemy investigates the potential of microalgae as pigment in textile printing. The designers Essi Johanna Glomb (textile design) and Rasa Weber (product design) reveal the aesthetic potential of a resource which is mostly regarded as weeds within Europe.

Algaemy is an analogue textile-printer which produces its own (surprisingly fast-growing) pigment. A wide color palette from different shades of blue, green, brown and even red derives from various species of microalgae.

Microalgae have an incredibly wide range of applications, such as nutrition, energy and oil production, filtering qualities and even CO2 absorption. The machine uses this potential to create an autarkic circle of production, which does not require additional energy or material apart from human power and the microalgae itself.

The colors are not light stable as usually known by the industry. The “biodynamic color palette” of Algaemy textiles changes over time when exposed to sunlight, for example from green to an intense blue, from a pale pink to a bright red and eventually orange. Every piece of textile is telling a story over time. People change – so do textiles.

For the Milk and Sugar fashion show Blond & Bieber created two outfits in cooperation with the Berlin fashion designer Ylenia Gortana. The clothes were sewed without direct exposure to sunlight to avoid the biodynamic transformation of the colors. They have been shown at the fashion show for the first time and start their natural change of colors right away.

In cooperation with the German shoe-brand Trippen Blond & Bieber produced first prototypes of microalgae-printed shoes.

Algaemy is nominated for the German Design Award 2015, has been nominated for the DMY award 2014 and received the Output Award 2014.