The memory of a Fold

duo Khurtova & Bourlanges

exhibition at De Vitrine, Amsterdam, August 2015
curated by Beatrice Puijk

For this XXth edition at De Vitrine, we conducted an experiment involving daylight, colour and time. Inspired from the traditional Japanese technique of Shibori, “the memory of a fold” is a pleated textile saturated with beetroot extracts. As beetroot pigments are not resistant to the UV present in daylight, their bright pink colour will slowly fade away during the exposing period in De Vitrine. After 6 weeks, the complete surface of the fabric will be unfolded, exposing an overlap of patterns created by sunlight and time.

From 1960 to 1964, Jacques Bourlanges researched on the oxidation of beetroot juices and its change of colour depending on pH and temperature.

Photography by Maarten Heijkamp and Masha Ru

With the support of Mondriaan Fonds and Stichting Stokroos