\n The Experimental Paint Archive is a publicly accessible and open source collection of biodegradable, non-toxic, and reusable fine art materials. The history of paint is entwined with a history of material experimentation, and of people who have often taken considerable financial, physical, and environmental risks in order to attain specific visual effects. This project documents techniques through which the hazards associated with creating fine art materials from scratch can be minimized, and iterates upon the conventional pigment + binder + liquid vehicle formula. <\/p>\n
\n This project was created by iterating on historical paint recipes, biomaterials recipes, and existing precedents regarding conductive and magnetic materials. Most results were achieved by mixing materials by hand in ITP\u2019s biomaterials lab and by cooking and mixing them at home in my kitchen. If these results can be achieved in a roach infested walk up kitchen, they can be achieved anywhere. <\/p>\n
\nMaterials Used:
\nGlycerin
\nGum Arabic
\nGuar Gum
\nXanthan Gum
\nMatte Acrylic Medium
\nVinegar
\nWater
\nCorn Starch
\nTapioca Flour
\nUltramarine Pigment
\nGreen Earth Pigment
\nRed Burgundy Ochre Pigment
\nRed Moroccan Ochre Pigment
\nItalian Gold Ochre Pigment
\nC\u00f4te d\u2019Azur Violet Pigment
\nMuseum Gel
\nGraphite
\nIron Filing
\nCopper dust\n <\/p>\n
\n This project originated as a plan to create material and online evidence of a speculative space agency that functioned entirely with bio-based materials. As the project developed and I became more interested in focusing on the materials experimentation piece and creating something functional rather than speculative, I decided to combine my biomaterials with my background working in fine art appraisal in order to create an archive of bio-based paints. I was also very inspired by the ethos of citizen science, both in the modern day and throughout history. I wanted to create a collection of products that could be created affordably and safely, without much use of specialized equipment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An online archive documenting techniques through which unconventional fine art materials can be created from scratch through the use of reusable materials, biomaterials, and earth pigments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,15,18,23],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2","tag-art","tag-product-design","tag-sustainability","tag-tech-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/thesis\/archive\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}