The Lab – Making and Knowing Project

The Making and Knowing Project’s laboratory space in Chandler Hall at Columbia University is the home to many of the Project’s recipe reconstructions, experiments, student skillbuilding activities, materials, objects, and research results. From verdigris pigment “growing” and cuttlefish bone casting to preserving flowers and golden varnishes, the lab is M&K’s experimental space and workshop.

Please explore the videos below to learn more, and check out the Project’s Youtube and Vimeo channels.

Direction and Editing: Lan Li
Production: Tianna Uchacz

Tour the M&K Lab

Making and Knowing Project Director Pamela H. Smith introduces the Project and the lab space at Columbia University.

01 - Introduction to the Making and Knowing Project

Pamela H. Smith gives an overview of the Project and its four components: Text Workshops, Lab Seminars, Working Groups, and Digital.

02 - Skillbuilding in the Lab Seminars

Pamela H. Smith presents the skillbuilding activities that introduce Lab Seminar students to reconstruction as a research method.

03 - Project Theme: Moldmaking and Metalworking

Pamela H. Smith outlines the theme for Year 1 (2014-15) of the Project, Metalworking and Moldmaking, and details some of the reconstructions and results.

04 - Project Theme: Colormaking

Pamela H. Smith outlines the theme for Year 2 (2015-16) of the Project, Colormaking, and details some of the reconstructions and results.

05 - Project Theme: Practical Knowledge

Pamela H. Smith outlines the theme for Year 3 (2016-17) of the Project, Practical Knowledge, and details some of the reconstructions and results relating to vernacular natural history, medicine, and practical mechanics, and optics.

06 - Focus on Project Design

Postdoctoral Scholar Tianna Uchacz shares a recipe for preserving fresh flowers and how its reconstruction highlights the Project’s iterative design.

07 - Focus on Colors and Dyes

Project Manager Naomi Rosenkranz shares how we understand materials through experiments with natural colorants, pigments, and dyes.

08 - Focus on Hourglass Sand

Project Director Pamela H. Smith shares an unlikely recipe for making the powder used as “sand” in hourglasses.

09 - Focus on Unexpected Successes and Failures

Postdoctoral Scholar Donna Bilak shares the surprising outcomes of making molds from freshly baked bread.

10 - Focus on Metal Casting with Toulouse Sand

Postdoctoral Scholar Joel A. Klein