London-based design studio Not Tom created the Dyed In The Wool installation for the Wool Modern exhibition in La Galleria Pall Mall in London.
The work was commissioned by Woolmark with Not Tom responding to the brief to create an original piece to surround a room.
Dyed In The Wool creates the effect of a woolen forest with a subtle but colourful glow around the bottom of the room. This is due to the outside edges of the room being lined with assorted paint tins filled with different coloured dyes. Large sticks and sections of tree branches are planted in the paint tins at random angles and wrapped in natural wool/
The magic happens when the wool is dampened and capillary action causes the coloured dye to rise up the sticks and eventually form a gradient from the natural colour of the wool to the bright colour of the dye.
Not Tom explains that “the mummification in wool of the dead branches is juxtaposed by the capillary action re-creating the natural movement of water up a living branch”. At the same time the installation serves as a demonstration of the dyeing process.
