Pollinator Frocks

Populations of insect pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths and the plants on which they depend, are declining at alarming rates due to deleterious human activity. These symbiotic relationships must be protected. Through interdisciplinary collaboration with entomologists, botanists, microscopists, surface pattern technologists and print and coating engineers, artist Karen Ingham is creating a prototype range of clothing that will, through public engagement with art and science, raise greater awareness of these important issues.The Pollinator Frocks Project is a limited edition collection of surface pattern designs and clothing based on scanning electron microscopy images of plant pollen grains linked to endangered pollinators. These digitally enhanced images form the basis for a range of striking and unusual printed fabrics, which act as ‘wearable gardens’. The fabrics will be treated with pollinator food sources that replicate nectar, which will be specially coated onto the fabric prior to cut and assemble as ‘pollinator frocks’ (loose fitting unisex clothing). Working with technologists at the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating research is also underway that looks at olfactory attractants and iridescent coatings that mimic the way insects view flowers. The designs consist of ‘day-wear’ for insects such as bees and butterflies and ‘evening-wear’ for moths. In the urban environment where garden space is limited and nectar rich plants rare, the clothing can be hung out as clothes are hung on a washing line, to act as an attractant to pollinators. As part of the public engagement events the fabrics will be sited in a variety of environments and locations to raise public awareness of the issues and test the efficacy of the prototypes. The collection will be trialed in the UK over summer 2010 before being tested for a more substantial period in New Zealand’s Pukekura Botanic Parklands as part of the art, technology and ecology event SCANZ 2011. Following the public engagement aspect of the project the coatings will no longer be applied, although the colour and pattern theory of the designs still prove attractive to pollinating insects, and the designs will be marketed as a limited edition with a share of the profits going to charities and organisations researching pollination issues. Pollinator Frocks is being supported by: the art, science and technology network SATnet at Swansea Metropolitan University, the Welsh Assembly Government, and  Wales Arts International. Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xq4eIBRVrE updated at SCANZ 2011 in New Zealand http://www.intercreate.org/scanz-2011/residency-projects/pollinator-frocks-project-karen-ingham Collaborators:SATnet and Swansea Metropolitan Universitywww.smu.ac.uk/satnet10 The Welsh Centre for Printing and Coatingwww.swan.ac.uk/printing Dr.Thierry Maffeis and Swansea University School of Engineering www.swan.ac.uk/engineering Dr. Miranda Whitten and Swansea University School of Biological Scienceswww.swan.ac.uk/biosci Grace Ironside, CIRICwww.smu.ac.uk/research/index.php/ciric Elinor Franklandhttp://www.elinorfranklin.co.uk and Tim Stokes, Video Artist: tim.stokes@smu.ac.uk