Hybrid Herbarium: Cyanotype & AI Cartographies
(T54. Workshop)
— cyanotype / ai image synthesis / hybrid images / post-industrial landscapes / field ecology / dérive / spontaneous plants / textile printing / prussian blue / datasets / prompting / algorithmic abstraction / micro-publishing / editorial practice
Cyanotype
AI
Plants
Architecture
Maps
Datasets
Prompting
Hybrid
Territory
Memory
Publishing
Folding
Abstraction
Image
Workflow
An advanced workshop structured as a full cycle, combining field ecology, analogue cyanotype printing, AI image synthesis, and experimental publishing within a single integrated methodology.
The process connects environmental observation with photographic, computational, and editorial practices.
WORKSHOP
In this advanced workshop, participants will engage in a full cycle that combines field ecology, analogue cyanotype printing, AI image synthesis, and experimental publishing.
The day begins with a collective dérive to a nearby vacant lot or post-industrial margin, where participants gather spontaneous urban plants and compose cyanotypes on large pre-sensitised textiles under sunlight. The emphasis is on recognising the agency of plants, light, and place in shaping the image.
After rinsing and drying the textiles indoors, the afternoon session introduces a project-specific AI prompt protocol to generate hybrid images merging botanical forms, architectural blueprints, and cyanotype textures. Participants create algorithmic territorial abstractions that reflect on vacancy, memory, and post-industrial landscapes.
The workshop continues with editing and selection of generated images, followed by basic printing.
The final stage focuses on experimental micro-publishing, producing concertina booklets or poster zines that combine analogue cyanotypes with AI-generated imagery.
The workshop concludes with a collective moment of presentation, reflection, and documentation, completing a workflow that moves from terrain to plant, from analogue print to algorithmic image, and finally to editorial form.
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CONTEXTO
Workshop: T54. Hybrid Herbarium: Cyanotype & AI Cartographies[follow direct lik to booking page]
Concept and facilitation: paula roush
Commissioned by: Experimental Photo Festival 2026
Location: Centre Civic Pati Llimona
Carrer del Regomir, 3
08002 Barcelona
Date: Sat 25 July 2026
Time: 15:00 – 19:00 CEST
Outline
Session 1: Morning
Introduction: hybrid methodology, safety notes, and pre-sensitised fabrics
Fieldwalk and plant gathering in a nearby vacant lot, with reflection on ecological resilience and industrial memory
Site preparation: laying out textiles and managing light exposure
Composition with collected plants and solar exposure
Return indoors, rinsing and drying of textiles, observation of Prussian blue
Session 2: Afternoon
Introduction to the AI protocol: datasets, prompting strategies, and interpretation of post-industrial ecologies
Image generation: creating hybrid territorial abstractions
Editing and selection, basic printing
Experimental micro-publishing: folding structures and combining AI images with cyanotype documentation
Final meeting, presentations, group reflection, and documentation
