Research + Moodboard Progress

I’ve jumped through so many sources this week trying to find the current stressors on the Magdalena River. I think I’ve finally discovered the effects of the hippos in modern day and the journey they’ve taken to becoming this environmental issue. Much of my research has been on invasive species and algae blooms. Cyanobacteria, Cyanotoxins, the general climate requirements of hippos in general, water hyacinths, the lifecycle of algae blooms, what makes blue-green algae bioluminescent, what was the path these hippos took over the years? Where exactly have they finally settled? How many are there? When does this finally become a problem and to who does this become a problem for? These ideas and many more are in my notebook, but the hardest part has been how do I distill this down into feelings and mood and visualizations??? What does the Magdalena’s journey look like in garment form? I’ll let y’all know when I figure it out :/

Iris and the algae dress

Also I discovered Iris van Herpen already made a bioluminescent dress and it didn’t wow me? Can’t wait to see how much further I can take the idea without doing what she did, how else can I explore algae that isn’t that obvious??? Why does the glowing algae have to glow? Can’t it be more??

Moodboard in progress…

Current Keywords: harmony/balance, multiplicity, toxins, degradation, blooms, push + pull, intersection, invasive, containment, build-up, restoration, fruitful, plentiful, accumulation