LABORATORIUM

Disguised Messages by

Tiina Pyykkinen plays with space, time, and perception. Her intriguing panels, created on mirrored steel, continuously shift based on light and viewpoint. During production, an adhesive layer protects the surface during the colouring process. This layer is only partially removed afterwards, revealing shadow-based forms.

The result invites interaction: the viewer is literally reflected and merges with the image, transforming the painting into a fluid experience. Pyykkinen explores how a “moving image” can emerge—monochromatic yet multicoloured, stable yet elusive. Her work reflects the human condition: layered, fluid, and ever-changing. ‘Disguised Messages’ invites a moment of reflection on our place in a complex reality.

Tiina Pyykkinen (b. 1983) is a Helsinki-based visual artist who works primarily with paintings and installations. Her practice is focused on the themes of communication, individual and collective memory, and time and its disorder as a bodily experience.
Pyykkinen uses various combinations of material and light creating multi-layered works that engage in a dialogue with space, movement, and the viewer`s perceptual experience. Her works are temporal and spatial, in which visuality is in constant flux.
This work is part of the expo ‘Colour, seeing beyond pigment’ and shows the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .di .xyz
Scientist: Maria Boto

Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography:

Looking back at the wonderful opening of our expo: COLOUR, seeing beyond pigment

Pigments are everywhere. From paints to cosmetics and clothes, from everyday objects to your food and drinks, they literally add colour to life. Unfortunately, the pigment and dye industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world.

In the search for natural alternatives, .bio – the biolab for art, design and biotechnology – went a long way. Here, melanin proved to be a fascinating track. In Z33, researchers, designers and artists present their results for the first time.

Melanin is found in our skin and determines our colour. But what few people know is that the pigment is also found in animals and has a very wide range of tones. Think of the wings of a butterfly or peacock feathers. Because of the structure in the wings on which light refracts, you can observe different colour tones. Can these natural solutions help us in the search for less polluting dyes? Several designers and artists got to work with this structural colour and are showing their work for the first time.

This work is part of the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .xyz .di
Scientist: Maria Boto
Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography: ©Selma Gurbuz ©Kobe Vanderzande

Looking back at the wonderful opening of our expo: COLOUR, seeing beyond pigment

Pigments are everywhere. From paints to cosmetics and clothes, from everyday objects to your food and drinks, they literally add colour to life. Unfortunately, the pigment and dye industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world.

In the search for natural alternatives, .bio – the biolab for art, design and biotechnology – went a long way. Here, melanin proved to be a fascinating track. In Z33, researchers, designers and artists present their results for the first time.

Melanin is found in our skin and determines our colour. But what few people know is that the pigment is also found in animals and has a very wide range of tones. Think of the wings of a butterfly or peacock feathers. Because of the structure in the wings on which light refracts, you can observe different colour tones. Can these natural solutions help us in the search for less polluting dyes? Several designers and artists got to work with this structural colour and are showing their work for the first time.

This work is part of the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .xyz .di
Scientist: Maria Boto
Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography: ©Selma Gurbuz ©Kobe Vanderzande

‘A Geometry of Togetherness’ by Dimitris Theocharis is a kite inspired by the tetrahedral shape of Alexander Graham Bell’s 1907 design. Made from fibreglass rods and parachute fabric, the piece radiates lightness and balance. Despite its delicate construction, it is fully functional and capable of flight. The structural colours on its surface change with the light, referencing starling murmurations that seek safety in numbers. Playful at first glance, the piece delves into deeper reflections on natural, architectural, and technological patterns. The kite illustrates how individual elements combine to create new properties. Like molecules in nature, its geometric precision reveals hidden harmonies.

Dimitris Theocharis (1987) holds degrees in Mathematics and Fine Arts from Greek institutions and earned his MFA from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam in 2020. His practice spans various media and focuses on connections across different disciplines and eras, delving into themes of time, materiality, and the migration of forms across art, nature, and science. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.

This work is part of the expo ‘Colour, seeing beyond pigment’ and shows the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .di .xyz
Scientist: Maria Boto

Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography:

We look back at a wonderful opening of our expo: COLOUR, seeing beyond pigment

Pigments are everywhere. From paints to cosmetics and clothes, from everyday objects to your food and drinks, they literally add colour to life. Unfortunately, the pigment and dye industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. In the search for natural alternatives, .bio – the biolab for art, design and biotechnology – went a long way. Here, melanin proved to be a fascinating track. In Z33, researchers, designers and artists present their results for the first time.

Melanin is found in our skin and determines our colour. But what few people know is that the pigment is also found in animals and has a very wide range of tones. Think of the wings of a butterfly or peacock feathers. Because of the structure in the wings on which light refracts, you can observe different colour tones. Can these natural solutions help us in the search for less polluting dyes? Several designers and artists got to work with this structural colour and are showing their work for the first time.

This work is part of the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .xyz .di
Scientist: Maria Boto

Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography: ©Selma Gurbuz

We look back at a wonderful opening of our expo: COLOUR, seeing beyond pigment

Pigments are everywhere. From paints to cosmetics and clothes, from everyday objects to your food and drinks, they literally add colour to life. Unfortunately, the pigment and dye industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. In the search for natural alternatives, .bio – the biolab for art, design and biotechnology – went a long way. Here, melanin proved to be a fascinating track. In Z33, researchers, designers and artists present their results for the first time.

Melanin is found in our skin and determines our colour. But what few people know is that the pigment is also found in animals and has a very wide range of tones. Think of the wings of a butterfly or peacock feathers. Because of the structure in the wings on which light refracts, you can observe different colour tones. Can these natural solutions help us in the search for less polluting dyes? Several designers and artists got to work with this structural colour and are showing their work for the first time.
This work is part of the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .xyz .di
Scientist: Maria Boto

Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography: ©Selma Gurbuz

Welcome at our expo: COLOUR, seeing beyond pigment

Pigments are everywhere. From paints to cosmetics and clothes, from everyday objects to your food and drinks, they literally add colour to life. Unfortunately, the pigment and dye industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. In the search for natural alternatives, Laboratorium – the biolab for art, design and biotechnology at KASK & Conservatorium in Ghent – went a long way. Here, melanin proved to be a fascinating track. In Z33, researchers, designers and artists present their results for the first time.

Melanin is found in our skin and determines our colour. But what few people know is that the pigment is also found in animals and has a very wide range of tones. Think of the wings of a butterfly or peacock feathers. Because of the structure in the wings on which light refracts, you can observe different colour tones. Can these natural solutions help us in the search for less polluting dyes? Several designers and artists got to work with this structural colour and are showing their work for the first time.

This work is part of the artistic output of the research project ‘Ecology of Colour’ .bio in

Artists/designers: .xyz .di

Scientist: Maria Boto

Text:
Expo (8.5.25-24.8.25)
Curation:
Scenography:
Photography: