Riley Silva 2020Š Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design. The cover is alphabet pasta set in lemon gelatin.
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Table of Contents Would It Even Be Possible___________________________________________________________ 09 But What Fun Is That?_______________________________________________________________ 23 Will It Print?_______________________________________________________________________ 45 Now What?________________________________________________________________________ 63
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Would It Even Be Possible
Passing Thought It started with a passing thought in my sophomore year. I was having a usual late-night in the print studio and was mixing this brilliant baby blue ink. Suddenly, I had the primal desire to eat that ink. Instead of just dismissing the thought and moving on, I decided to expand on it. I asked myself, “what if the ink was edible?� That question led me down t his idea of edible ink printed onto edible paper. What is the print itself was edible? Has it been done before? Would it even be possible?
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In Process Fruit Leather
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In Process Pasta Poster
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In Process Screenprinting Tests
“Would it even be possible?” was a question that dwelled on me. I knew it was possible to make paper out of vegetable fibers, though I had never done it, I considered knowing it was possible to make edible paper was half the battle. I kept this idea in the back of my mind as one of those passion projects I would work on “as soon as I had some time.”
In Process Fruit Leather
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Strawberry Papyrus Detail
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When the time came to begin thinking about thesis topics I was at a loss for ideas. And seeing the senior’s thesis presentations made the choice that much more intimidating. But then I figured thesis would be a fantastic excuse to work on something I knew I was passionate about, and I knew I would want to see it through. (And even now, writing this with two weeks left of my senior year, I am still as excited about this idea as I was when I first thought of it my sophomore year.)
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Sugar Cookie and Biscuit Sheets
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But What Fun Is That
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Pasta Poster Detail
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Finding Meaning Throughout the semester I was worried that my idea wasn’t going to be taken seriously, I decided to come up with farce reasons for my idea to stand on. Writing things like, “my intent is to rekindle an old interest and combine it with a new, growing one.” The old interest being Cooking and the new being Graphic Design. Regardless, the statement is only partially true. This “rekindling” is only a byproduct of exploring this topic. Relatively early on in the semester, I decided to have my true reasoning live freely. My true intent was just to test my abilities.
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In Process Spinach Paper
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Rice Ink Test
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In Process Spinach Paper
In Process Spinach Paper
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From then on, my thesis was process and experiment focused. Then I would doubt myself, question my entire reasoning, then settle back onto this conclusion every time. My original intent was strictly based around the idea that I needed to make the edible print to live and respond as close to actual printmaking materials as possible. But what fun is that?
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Fruit Leather Butterfly
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In Process Fruit Leather
In Progress Spinach Parer
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Sugar Cookie
Since I knew I would approach this situation carefully I decided to just jump in. I knew, even from the beginning, that I would get stuck on the idea of making the “final product” as real as possible. I decided, instead of choosing to be intimidated by the lack of knowledge I had on the subject, I choose to start somewhere that I was comfortable with. I started with baking. Well. How do I hake an edible vehicle for text? Sugar cookie. What is a way that the text won’t...smear?
Something you can stamp. What is something that would be easy to stamp into? Fudge. What about something not as flimsy? Pasta, maybe? I decided to just go full steam ahead. Because why not?
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Angel Biscuit
Sugar Cookie (Cont.)
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I decided to do just that, I decided to just go for it. And on Monday morning, my classmates ate like kings. And the Pasta Poster was the most fun thing I made and ended up being my favorite overall. (And, honestly, it is the piece of art I am most proud of, to date.)
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In Progress Pasta Poster
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Will It Print
Have a Little Faith Before I got the gears turning on another outlandish representation of my original intention, I decided to shift my focus to inks. I began to ponder what edible materials would be easily sent through a silkscreen. As I soon discovered, the challenging part is to have the prints show up on the vegetable/fruit paper. I started trying things that were advertised as “DIY-edible-non-toxic paint� found on a vegan mother’s blog that was just rice flour, water, and food coloring. I also tried distilled fruit juice, frosting, and even chocolate syrup.
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Printed Fruit Leather Detail
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Test Printing Inks
In Process Rice Ink
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Spinach Paper Failure
Making paper out of vegetable fibers turned out to be tricker than I expected. Especially when using a paper deckle made of an old frame, scrap wood, and window screen. My first attempts with spinach paper were not quite successful. I learned a lot about the process just giving it a shot. In the beginning, I got too caught up in “doing it right� that I was doing so much reading and research about papermaking that I could minor in it.
Spinach Paper Failures
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Ironing Spinach Paper
In Progress Spinach Paper
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Worrying about mistakes was holding me back. I know I learn by doing, so I just did it. My next attempts using vegetable fibers were incredibly more successful than the first. My experiments with fruit leather (or fruit jerky) were variously successful. Narrowing down the specific combination of volume, heat, and timing was difficult and annoying. Once I got it down, it was perfect, and delicious too.
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Over-Dried Fruit Leather
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My next challenge was to see if the inks would print on the papers. The short answer was no. Some of the inks would print on newsprint, which was exciting. Sadly, most inks were barely visible on the paper I had made. The opacity of the inks was where my problem lied and I was struggling to find a solution. The next thing I was going to try was coating the paper in a thin coat of gelatine to not only hopefully give the ink something to adhere to but to also give the paper more flexibility. But then a global pandemic erupted and school was moved online, I was booted from the dorms, I no longer had space to work, and time just didn’t feel real anymore.
Distilling Juice
Color Swatch Test
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Rice Inks
Test Printing Chocolae Syrup
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In Progress Spinach Booklet
Spinach Booklet
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Now What
I don’t really know what else to say. This pandemic was the worst thing that could have conceivably happen. The world is terrifying, people are continuously rising, we have no idea what is to come. No one can predict what’s going to happen next. I feel robbed of the last month of the best years of my life. I feel selfish that I feel robbed. I’ve learned a lot about my creative process this past semester. I’ve learned a lot about myself this past month. I am excited to continue to grow. I am excited to watch my friends’ careers sore. I am excited about the future.
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Sunrise In Portland Maine
This book is dedicated to my friends.
I love you guys.