Madder Red Lake
Name: Reut Ullman and Tenzin Dongchung
Date and Time:
2017.10.09, 12:50pm
Location: 260 ChandlerSubject: Making Madder
We were provided with a sheet of instructions to follow, to create (to engineer) madder. We were also provided with madder root.
Instructions:
Ingredients
-2g coarsely ground madder root
-Polyester netting bag (or cheesecloth or something similar)
-120ml water
-3g potash alum
-1.2 potassium carbonate
-120ml water
-Water to wash
Procedure
-Enclose madder in a polyester netting bag large enough to allow the plant material to move freely and water to penetrate it
-Soak overnight in 60ml water in 100ml or larger beaker
-After soaking, heat solution to 70° C and extract dye at this temperature for 30 min
-Remove bag
-If necessary, while still hot through folded filter papers
-Add 3g potash alum to warm solution and heat to 80° C
-Meanwhile, make up solution of 1.2 g. potassium carbonate in 120ml water in 250ml beaker
-Add dyestuff solution to this alkaline solution very slowly, stirring constantly
-Check pH (should be about 6)
-Leave to settle overnight
-Next day, filter pigment and wash with water until filtrate is clear
-Filter to remove all liquid and allow to dry
We began the experiment by placing a prepared beaker with a day-old soaked cheese cloth madder root filled bag on top of a hotplate, dial turned to ’1.5’. We then placed a glass mercury thermometer to monitor the temperature of the contents of the beaker, until it reached 70 C, as per instructions. Meanwhile, we poked at the stuffed baggy of madder root, to release more juice. We observed a coating of film on the surface of the liquid, probably residue to be filtered out. The heated solution emitted a strong bitter-like odour. The colour was maroon.
The hotplate dial was lowered to ‘1.5’ at 12:55 pm, reaching the desired 70 C at 1:00 pm, at which point we took the beaker off the hotplate, removed the cheesecloth filled madder root bag, to discard.
In a separate beaker, we mixed 1.2 grams of potassium carbonate with 120 mL of water, until the former was dissolved. We set this beaker aside.
We returned the beaker with the liquid madder juices to the hotplate, added 3 g of potash alum, stirred, and once more inserted the thermometer until the internal temperature of the solution reached 80 C. Once the thermometer read 80 C, we slowly poured the contents of the dissolved potassium carbonate beaker into the liquid madder solution, and observed the foaming and change of colour, a lightening, from maroon red to rust red. We continued to mix the solution, and checked the pH level, which read at 6. We covered the beaker with a parafilm, for the madder to settle overnight.
Name: Reut Ullman and Tenzin Dongchung
Date and Time:
2017.10.10, 6:00pm
Location: 260 ChandlerSubject: Draining Madder
We returned the next day to the lab, and found our madder nice and settled, with a diaphanous but visible mass of solid particles on the beaker floor, separated in colour and texture from the surrounding liquid. We took another beaker, on top of which we placed a strainer with filtered coffee paper, and proceeded slowly to strain the contents of our madder beaker, at 6:20 pm. The filtration process was painfully slow, and we let the solution sit comfortably, checking on it every 45 min or so, to see if more water was to be added. We were to filter the madder until the liquid residue was to be clear, like water. Between 6:20 pm and 9:45 pm, we ran our madder through two rounds of water filtration, discarding the orangish liquid each time. At 9:45 pm, the last filtration cycle, the liquid residue dripped clear. Hazza!
Name: Reut Ullman
Date and Time:
2017.10.16, 3:00pm
Location: 260 ChandlerSubject: Painting out Madder Lakes
Ingredients:
Madder powder
Water
Linseed oil
Egg (yolk and white separated)
Equipment
Glass board
Muller
Brushes
Knife
Beakers
Whisk
4 plastic droppers
I began by emptying the container of Madder powder onto a glass board, making two separate heaps, one for using egg yolk and white as binding agents, another linseed oil. Starting first with egg, I separated the contents of the egg into two beakers, one for yolk, another for white. The yolk sac was discarded and only its contents were deposited into the first beaker. The second beaker containing the white of the egg, was mixed with a whisk, and left to settle.
I returned to the glass board on which lay the Madder powder, to which I added (with a plastic dropper) two drops of water to moisten its contents. I then used a muller, to mull the mixture until it achieved a smooth and soft consistently. When I first began mulling, the muller resisted, producing a scratchy sound, and allowing for only jerky movements. The mixture under the muller had grain-like qualities, solid and rugged, to which the muller succumbed to, resisting my mulling. After about 5 minutes, the mixture gave way, and the mulling turned into a soft, smooth process. I then laid out two different surfaces on which to test the madder lake pigment, strong paper and Masonite board (MDF) primed with 9 coats of gesso. I once more divided the madder mixture into two separate piles, and using the egg yolk as a binding agent, I added 2 drops of egg yolk, mixed it together with a brush, and applied it to the two surfaces. The pigment was the colour of rust, and when painted out, the hue was bold and deep. I then turned to the egg white for a binding agent, from which I removed the frothy foam, using only the liquid portions. I added 2 drops of egg white, mixed it together with a brush, and applied it to two different surfaces. Comparatively, the hue was not as deep, or dark.
The last binding agent was linseed oil. I turned to the dry madder mixture I had set aside earlier in the experiment, added two drops of oil, and began mulling. I did not encounter a similar problem of resistant mulling as earlier, rather the oil had made the process so easy that the madder mixture attached itself to the bottom of the muller, and I had to mull until all the madder contents had gradually transferred from the muller to the glass board. This took about 5 minutes, after which, I added another drop of oil, mixed it with a brush and applied the brushstrokes to two different surfaces. The hue was lighter than earlier instances, but also smoother in application.
ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN MAKING FIELD NOTES
- note time
- note (changing) conditions in the room
- note temperature of ingredients to be processed (e.g. cold from fridge, room temperature etc.)
- document materials, equipment, and processes in writing and with photographs
- notes on ingredients and equipment (where did you get them? issues of authenticity)
- note precisely the scales and temperatures you used (please indicate how you interpreted imprecise recipe instruction)
- see also our informal template for recipe reconstructions