Our Motivations and Inspirations...
How it all started.
The project Fundyes is born from the Uc Davis class DES 128A&B, the series of these two quarters looks into the potential of implementing natural and biologically engineered centered ideas to the world. The Biodesign Challenge is the goal of many of these projects, that seek to compete for which project has the most well-thought and feasible project for future implementation, among other categories on the rubric. The Fundyes team looked into many other ideas, primarily looking into the creation of natural dyes. Mushrooms were the ultimate choice for our team because of their many different attractive characteristics. Remarkable features of the mushrooms are their potential for bioremediation and metal bioaccumulation- which you will see explored further on our The Future page.
What is Fundyes?
Fundyes is a project initially born out of our desire to produce natural dyes. When we decided to focus on mushrooms, the idea of bioremediation was nothing but a possible byproduct. However, as we continue to research the current state of mushrooms, especially the status of many of them as symbiotic organisms, we started to understand that the current use of mushrooms has to be focused on species that can be cultivated. At that moment, bioremediation became the main focus of our project.
The cultivation of some species of mushrooms is already possible, and we know at least one of them to produce dyes, so why not focus on cultivating the mushrooms and dyeing yarn as a byproduct instead? Our project has since then shifted towards educating the public about the benefits of introducing mushrooms as bioremediation for the damage done by the mass production of textile synthetic dyes. We do this process by aiming to create a product that carries our message, which is the yarn that is dyed with those same mushrooms. We hope to continue to expand to the scale in which we will be able to produce a surplus of mushrooms that factories can buy to treat their water waste, and that way remediate the soils and water bodies that have been left to be considered too toxic to use.
Our Mushrooms.
Here you can get to know the mushrooms we used for our experiments, which you can read more about on The Process page
(Photo: © Michael Wood)
Creator: Picasa
Polyozellus sp. found by Christian Schwarz.
Spring king
The Boletus rex, also known as Spring king. It appears under pine trees from May to June in North America. It produces a yeallow-ish dye.
Lobster mushroom
The Hypomyces lactifluorum, also known as Lobster mushroom. It is actually not a mushroom, despite its name, it is a parasite for other mushrooms. It produces a orange-ish dye.
Belly button
The Hydnum umbilicatum, also known as Belly button or depressed hedgehog. It produces a green-ish dye.
Blue chanterelle
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The Polyozellus atroazulinus, also known as Blue chanterelle. It is also known as the clustered blue chanterelle, or, the black chanterelle. It produces a blue-ish dye.
Cinnamon bracket
The Hapalopilus nidulans, also known as Cinnamon bracket. It grows in a semi-circle shape on dead deciduous trees. It is supposed to make a purple-ish dye.
Existing Framework
Mushroom Color Atlas
Before Fundyes started experimenting, there were already some existing resources for initial exploration. We would like to specifically highlight one of these resources; the Mushroom Color Atlas is an online resource that provides a list of mushrooms that have been used to create dye and pigments. The creator of the atlas, Julie Beeler, defines it as “a resource and reference for everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from mushroom dyes.” Other than being a reference for small scale producers, the atlas has the potential to become the basis for a more scientific experimentation of mushroom dyes at a revolutionary level, as well as help to introduce mushrooms as the dyeing base of the industrial production of fabric dyes.
However, for the potential of the atlas to be fully explored, we must first look at the measurements that are already recorded. When diving into the Mushroom Color Atlas, the structure allows us to see the measurements and annotations that Beeler used when creating the dyes shown in the pictures. By looking at these measurements, we were able to recreate some of the dyes produced by Beeler.