- Campus , Student
- 25/03/2022
Dekate Mousa reveals 275 meter blueprint
Today, photography association Dekate Moussa rolled out a blueprint along Groene Loper on the TU/e campus. The 275 meters of paper tells a story of many associations on campus. The wind however was trying to tell its own story, blowing under the fragile blue paper.
A blueprint, also cyanotype, is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. For a long time it was a low-cost way to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Daphne Dorrestijn, student at Applied Physics and chairwoman of Dekate Mousa, took Cursor by the 275 meters of blueprint.
“All the associations were invited to take part in the project, as many did. They could bring stencils characteristic for their association, like Doppio the theater association did with the masks for example.” As we walk by the blueprint, a story unfolds. The wind however tries to lift the blueprint, but the members of Dekate Mousa show dedication and teamwork to keep it on the ground with sandbags and duct tape.
The making of the blueprint took about six months. “We have a studio in Luna where we made this. It had to stay completely dark for the whole time as the paper is sensitive to light, so we couldn’t use the studio for anything else. The paper is drenched in chemicals, rolled out, dried and then the next part is up for the same sequence.” Then the exposure part came: a part was brought out, the stencils of the associations were laid on and the waiting could begin as the sunlight would brighten the open parts in the stencils, causing a color difference as you see in the end result. “Some associations even decided to lay out their members on the paper, which resulted in interesting sights on campus.”
Dekate Mousa first wanted to hang the result in the library, but since the paper is very fragile, hanging would not be the best option. “Therefore we chose to expose it on the ground instead. We will make a video and even use a drone to record everything”, Dorrestijn says. Curious for a foretaste? Cursor made a simple video you can find in the stories of our Instagram @cursortueindhoven.
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