If you have been following this blog you will know that I have mentioned Seed paper a number of times. I had not heard of this until a chance encounter with the boys at Transmission Creative in Hope Mill. The paper is impregnated with seeds and once the message has been delivered it can then be planted and the seeds grow….brilliant.
The idea came to me that I could get seed paper made with Wildflower Meadow seeds and then print or make something out of it to be displayed as an art object or in a gallery setting. I contacted a manufacturer who kindly sent me some samples. In the meantime I began thinking about the initial aim of the Killing Jar project which was to paraphrase ” document the fatalities of the Afghan conflict in a more direct way than the current media allows…” I havent lost sight of this just let myself drift a little with different ideas. The keyword here is the media, and I began thinking about using the media directly in a different form…seedpaper.
I looked into making paper and decided that I could use recycled newspapers to make my own seed paper to impregnate with wildflower meadow seeds. By using the original newspapers that seem to be skirting major issues surrounding this conflict, or only half reporting the true Human Cost I would be I able to document the fatalities in a more direct way…and come full circle on my initial idea.
So as this is still a developing thought I will show you the progress of the seed paper samples that I am testing:
The paper has to be soaked in water overnight to start the germination process….
It is then planted in soil and covered over , the soil also was soaked over night and will be kept moist until the seeds begin to germinate…..
Watch this space to see how the seed paper develops….if it does. One concern I have with making my own paper is that the pulp is obviously extremely wet when the seeds are added and what is to stop them growing directly in the paper?….I m sure I will find out as I begin to experiment with the paper making process.