POV: Week 2

Indigo Dying

Today (Sept 9th) we got to dye using natural indigo dyes. We walked through a bookstore, onto a rock path, and into a classroom space. We were asked to take off our shoes, which I thought was interesting. Especially since it feels like walking through the bookstore and the rocks would have taken off most of the dirt on my feet. The program was run by a partner named Cheito. Chieto in Taiwanese means to play which is a very familiar saying as it is something my dad says I do a lot. 

This reminds me of the Wisdom Culture and Education Organization, WCEO in the Bay Area. I grew up attending WCEO Chinese folk art camps where we spent a week doing Taiwanese cultural activities like acting out folk plays, making moon cakes, paper cutting, and even indigo dying. First, we learned about how the dyes are made. The teacher brought in the indigo plant and explained how the leaves are a key ingredient to the success of the dye. Then she broke down more steps from the seeping of the indigo leaves to all the ingredients that go into the dye once processed. Something surprising was that the dye was edible. She just took a bit out of the jar, put it in her mouth, and continued the session with a bit of blue between her teeth. Having a translator there was helpful as I often couldn't catch what she was saying so having it repeated helped me learn more about the specifics of the process. 

Soon, we were making our own. I think of indigo dying in the same bucket of tie-dying. I figured if I just made something with rubber bands, something would occur. However, she ended up teaching us 6 patterns that we could try. Her showing us visually was really helpful and inspirational as to what style folding created what style. I enjoy tie-dye that isn't uniform so I adapted the third style that she taught. It was a folding technique that created a style similar to blue Portgual tiles. I folded a triangle design, followed both ends of the triangles to with popsicle sticks, and stuck a rubber band in the middle for good measure. I wasn't sure what the design would be but I wanted to try an assortment of designs so I used thick and thin popsicle sticks and a rubber band. When I did this for the first time, I only had access to rubber bands so I was excited to play around with popsicle sticks. 

The dying process was long, especially in the heat. It took three rounds of two-minute dunk and massaging. However, with so many of us, it took us about an hour to get through the turns. In the end, we got to take our designs apart. My bandana was the lightest of all the designs but I enjoyed the variety of patterns that was created. It looks like a kaleidoscope pattern, where the pattern seems to match up and reflect but also doesn't. My hand, despite wearing gloves, caught a bit of the blue and I was scared I was going to become like a smurf. However, washing my hands a couple of times helped the color to come off. The dying process also created a scent that my hands smelled like for hours after. I'm not sure how the describe the scent, it also was a mix of sulfur and rotten food. 

Afterward, we hung them up to dry and got to enjoy some cubed ice cream. I wish we got to hear more about the cube ice cream because I am greatly interested in the concept. I got a plum cube and a passion fruit cube, both great to help cool off after dying. The one downside was if I put my hand too close to my nose, I could smell the dye smell which made the cube ice cream less enjoyable. The bandanas unfortunately didn't get to fully dry as it rained about an hour after we were done but at least we didn't have to dye the fabric in the rain. Currently, my design is hanging in the closet where it can dry and the smell can be contained.