Peatmoss (Sphagnum Palustre) is a moss of high value of Drenthe. It maintains through is absorptive qualities the wet peatlands of Drenthe such as Fochtelorveen. It is that what, with the help of pressure and water turns over thousands of years into peat. A material so important for both the history and future of Drenthe.

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Looking for expressing these values and qualities through a study of the material and the possible applications of the newly created materials made during the research.

Peatmoss is an extraordinary material. It can contain sixteen times it's own dry weight in water and has natural antibacterial qualities. It was therefore used for example, to wrap the wounds of soldiers in the first World War. The moss is also the cause of the preservation of bog mummies, like the girl from Yde found in wet peatlands. The antibacterial and slightly acidic qualities stopped the body from decaying and preserved it for hundreds of years in a most unique way.

  The Peatmoss Lab is a material research and material development derived from these unique qualities.

Through grinding, felting, weaving, pulverizing and combining it with other materials, the moss is used as a key resource to look for a material or method to explain the sense of poetry of the material, which is unknown to most people.

Focussing on it's potential for the making of paper and the use of it's absorptive qualities

 

From the material study, a postcard was created to promote the province. Since Peatmoss grows through the scattering of spores, this postcard, when planted might create a new peatland after thousands of years when planted in the ideal circumstances. But who knows? The poetry of the rareness expressed and awareness of it’s importance for Drenthe visualized..

 

 

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