jiJIji 記憶技藝記憶

田野筆記： 在義大利 南提洛的 苧麻研究紀錄

jiJIji 記憶技藝記憶

Field Studies: a study of hemp in Castelatsch , South Tyrol, Italy 「逃逸」理想裡 駐地研究 考察筆記

2019

Sep-Oct Hsiang-Lin Kuo

「動能的餘溫 把我推到阿爾卑斯山上。」

前

Preface 言

夏去秋來過了一季。 七十六天的旅行裡，遊歷了奧 斯塔、米蘭、威尼斯、柏林、布 拉格、布達佩斯……等城市。 最後來到古老神話般的 南提洛。 初臨之際，便倍受驚喜，而決 定住下。我被當地流傳下來的 苧麻紡織技藝吸引，更被一群 承襲它的人們震撼， 兒的人 們深信古老的苧麻技術具備 延續於當代的生命力。

This project took place mainly in Cengles, as I was (re)discovering the art of hemp with Werner, an activist that is now working with many aspects of hemp. He was my mentor during my stay, always informative, helpful, and kind, and was very open to creative work that I had developed.

I was assigned to work on a textile-oriented project on the farm, which included in-depth field studies, fiber extraction, and yarn-blend experiments, and swatch development.

With the contributions of the broad and passionate network of technicians, researchers, and artists in South Tyrol, the processes were always playful and conceptual, constantly in growth, but always put into practice.

目

Contents 次

前言 簡介 田野筆記 苧麻種植 分離作用 纖維萃取技法 與紡紗 針織 漂白

Preface 地方參與 Intro Field Notes Growing Hemp Ratting Fiber Extraction &Spinning Knitting Bleaching

Local Engagment =

簡

Intro 介

他們不畏時間、不畏「走回頭路」， 持續地演繹著古老的技藝。 他們身上不只是熱情，更有對於 傳承尊敬與信心。 他們是誰? 有農人、有大理石雕刻家、 有紡紗師、有工業設計師， 以及當地的企業主。

The people from the region believed in their roots. They trusted them, never afraid to look back, and are optimistic about linking the past to the future.

阿爾卑斯山區有 悠久的牧羊歷史， 然而， 裡的羊毛 因為質地粗糙， 故被當作無用的 廢物丟棄。 近年來，地方的 有志之士竭力 嘗試著如何將 樣的羊毛變得 有使用價值。

Wool

羊毛

Though people of the Alps had been raising sheep for centuries, local wool was treated as waste due to the coarse quality that gives a prickly feeling when worn.

Today, many are exploring ways to make this locally produced material lovable again.

Hemp

麻

The region once had a history in hemp growing, which ended in the late 20th century due to political and economic changes. There is still a significant existing population that remembers the days when they either grew, spun, or wove hemp for the local textile industry.

因為政策、經濟等 考量，苧麻織造 技法一度 臨 跡，追本溯源 之路變得更加 迴。 近年的復興，使得 在地的社群得以重 新拾起訴說著 地方記憶的技藝。

地

參

方

與

Local Engagement

南提洛區域內部的連結緊密， 地方人士參與紡麻文化保存 熱絡、互動頻繁。 個技藝訴說 著當地的共同記憶。

The locals were indeed actively engaged in the rediscovery and preservation of hemp.

Interaction and exchanges happened often, as the technique recalls the collective memory of the past.

Spread picture: Warner explaining the making of hemp bricks.

在此提及一些在地的苧麻復興運 動有參與者。 Just to name a few of the incredible community of people that participated in hemp-related work in the region.

Werner 同時是當地苧麻復興的先驅、農夫、 分享者與推動者，亦是 Castelatsch 農莊的主人翁。他對苧麻進行全方位 的研究，企圖將其根莖葉及種子開發 出適當的用途。 他主要以開發苧麻磚為主，近日逐漸 向織品發展。 An innovator, farmer, sharer and promoter, as well as the owner of the farm Castelatsch, who is passionate about exploring the unlimited possibilities of hemp— usage of the whole plant with zero waste. He grew up in Laas, and is very active in Oris and Cengles, if not the whole South Tyrol valley.

Nowadays, his main focus is on Hemp Bricks, along with by-products of hemp seed and leaves, that makes creams and other edibles. Recently, Warner is keen on pushing interest into textiles, an old art the valley once relied on as a living.

Martin 在某次的考察活動中認識了Martin。 他藉由無數的拜訪和研究，自學 臨 絕跡的苧麻技藝。他說， 門學問大多 都是傳家秘方，因此書籍裡的記載相 當有限。必須親自從嘗試中學習。 我有幸向他學了紡紗技巧與苧麻的處 理方式。

Iwas privileged to meet Martin, who was an artisan of spinning. He taught himself how to spin skillfully by gathering experience from many elders in the eastern Alps.

“This art was always passed down from father to son”, said Martin, “hence it was poorly documented in books so I had to gather scattered pieces from many people in order to put the puzzle together. Of course, it was also a ‘doing’ kind of learning, that you learn the most by starting it with your hands.”

(Translated from German) Left page: Martin spinnig while talking to Christine.

Retired Workers 農場附近有一間老年照顧中心，裡頭的 年長者年輕時大多為苧麻相關工作者。 Several elders in currently living in a nursing home of Cengles were either previous weavers, spinners, or farmers working with hemp. Conversations with them gave clues of how hemp production was like in the past century.

Christine, the leader of the innovation team of Salewa was very interested in this old skill of hemp in the area. They have as well done field studies to rediscover lost methods of this tradition. They have been visiting the most remote villages, speaking to many elders to find others who have conserved the knowledge, grasping every chance worth investigating. The team’s previous projects include development in a wool blend that sourced wool originated from the local region. The characteristics of wool from the Alps was coarse, almost unusable, but the team took the challenge to make it soft and lovable through alternations in yarn structure.

“Synthetic fabrics for performance is the mainstream trend, however, we set the goal to create natural fibers that manage moisture, breathability, warmth and coolness as well, or even better, than synthetics.�

Synthetics have been an effective replacement to cotton, a natural material used widely in apparel that was notorious in pollution and was never comfortable when wet. It was daring, yet inspiring. Currently, they have developed hemp pants for rock climbing, which dried faster, kept the wearer warm when it was cold, and cool when it was hot. The fabric had the hand-feeling of cotton. It was an exciting milestone.

Christine, and the innovation team of Salewa 當地的登山品 Salewa設立了一個研發 部門來參與 項苧麻研究。他們竭力將 個古老技藝現代化。 他們過去曾成功開發了一款針織帽，使用 的是當地手感不受消費者喜歡的羊毛。 然而，他們經多次試驗成功克服粗糙感，而 備受消費者喜愛。 他們發現苧麻纖維有絕佳的吸濕排汗保暖 等特性，擁有絕對的潛力。目前市面上的機 能布料多為人造纖維，他們相信未來，天然 纖維會成為的趨勢首選。 (Continued on the following page)

Verena 是一位在當地頗負盛名的羊毛氈 藝術家。他的工作室裡有非常完整 的配方紀錄資料庫。 她經常選用阿爾卑斯山區在地生 產的羊毛，即便該區氣候變化顯著 導致毛質粗糙堅硬，而不受愛戴。 雖然他沒有直接參與苧麻復興，但 身為Warner的 友，在發展苧麻 織品上提供了非常多幫助。

Significantly reputated in the area, Verena has an amazing collection of work, all process, swatches, and formulas were very well documented in files in her studio.

She works with a wide range of material, including development in the coarse local wool that was usually less preferred in wool selecting.

Though not directly involved in hemp work, she was a very good friend of Werner, and helped me develop towards the textile aspect of this research.

Color

Evenness of color is a problem in modern industrial standards of “quality control.� The color gets darker as the ratting process carries on, but this is always tricky because it is a natural process that relies on weather conditions which are difficult to predict.

Bleaching

4-5 days before and after the full moon every month is the window of opportunity to bleach finished hemp textiles (people do not bleach yarn that has not been woven, because it could result in the unevenness of color). There are “bleaching streets� in the area where villagers bring out the fabric at dusk to bleach and harvest daily at dawn. It is repeated for 8-10 days. Soft moonlight lightens fabric naturally and gently, which gives a subtle white color to hemp-- unlike bleaching under sunlight, which is way too strong and may result in an uneven tone.

Fiber Extraction from Hemp:

Breaking the stalk with wooden machinery: Such machines were designed with an opening that has a teeth-like structure. By rising and dropping it manually, it breaks off the wood part of the stalk with ease. **Wood chips that are considered to be waste that are generated in this step are used to make hemp bricks: a mixture of hemp and limestone, a breathable construction material that is strong and durable that keeps the building warm.

It also has sound absorption qualities. This mixture is also used in filaments in walls.

Combing:

By using different grades of combs, the fiber is detangled by bringing the strands through a particular gesture that starts slow and low, and ends with a fast and sudden lifting. Frizzy, short fibers are stuck on the combs, then removed, in order to separate different qualities of fiber—the longer it is, the better quality it would be. Usually, after combing through three grades of combs, the strands that remain are the best quality for fabric.

Spinning:

By steadily feeding fiber into the spinning wheel with skill, hemp yarn is wound onto the machine and ready to be woven into a fabric. The hands carefully control the speed and quantity of fiber that is fed into the wheel.

Traditionally, the harvested plant is sorted into two “genders.” They are slightly different in appearance, but both bear flowers and seeds.

Male— Harvest in July, gives a better quality of fiber Female—Harvest in late autumn

Ratting In this region, the technique so-called “rösten” is a shared word for “roast” in the German language. However, in this case, hemp undergoes a fermentation process rather than being roasted on a fire.

Ratting gets rid of a particular chemical through fermenting so that it is possible to separate the fiber from the stalk afterward.

According to Werner, there are three existing ways to do ratting.

Water Ratting:

By building a machine that rotates vertically and slowly submerges harvested hemp underwater and then lifts it back above the surface. This usually takes place in a river, which is prohibited today due to cultures grown in the fermentation, which are believed to pollute water. However, this is still under debate because some people argue that such cultures could be beneficial to the water ecosystem.

Field Ratting:

This is a way of ratting by cutting the plant and spreading it out in the field. For this method, moisture control is critical, and autumn weather in South Tyrol makes a perfect environment for field ratting, due to the cold, dewy evenings and warm, dry days. Occasional rain is fine and plants can be left laying on the fields untouched until harvest. Only in the case of continuous storms that go on for more than a week is it necessary to turn the hemp to avoid molding.

Winter Ratting:

This method creates the best quality of fiber.

Farmers cut out the flowers of the plant in fall, leaving the rest of the plant just as it is throughout the entire winter. Snowing and repeated melting throughout the season naturally ferments the plant. By spring, the ratted hemp is harvested and ready for the next step of treatment.