![Wheat paste valencia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Wheat_paste_valencia.jpg)
Wheat paste (also known as flour and water paste, flour paste, or simply paste) is a gel or
liquid adhesive made from wheat flour or
starch and water. It has been used since antiquity for various arts and crafts such as
book binding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
,
découpage
''Decoupage'' or ''découpage'' (; ) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an ...
,
collage,
papier-mâché
upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico
Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...
, and adhering
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...
posters and notices to walls.
A critical difference among wheat pastes is the division between those made from flour and those made from starch. Vegetable flours contain both gluten and starch. Over time the gluten in a flour paste
cross-links
In chemistry and biology a cross-link is a bond or a short sequence of bonds that links one polymer chain to another. These links may take the form of covalent bonds or ionic bonds and the polymers can be either synthetic polymers or natural ...
, making it very difficult to release the adhesive. Using only starch, a fine quality, fully reversible paste can be produced. The latter is the standard adhesive for paper conservation.
Besides wheat, other vegetables also are processed into flours and starches from which pastes can be made: characteristics, such as strength and reversibility, vary with the plant species; manufacturer's processing; and the recipe of the end-user.
Uses
A common use is to make chains of paper rings, often from colored
construction paper
Construction paper, also known as sugar paper, is coloured cardstock paper. The texture is slightly rough, and the surface is unfinished. Due to the source material, mainly wood pulp, small particles are visible on the paper's surface. It is used f ...
. It can also be used to create
papier-mâché
upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico
Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...
. In the
fine arts, wheat starch paste is often used in preparation and presentation. A good wheat starch paste has a strength compatible with many paper artifacts, remains reversible over time, is neither too acidic or alkaline, and is white.
Activists
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
and various
subculture proponents often use this adhesive to
flypost
Flyposting (also known as wild posting or bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often ...
propaganda and artwork. It has also commonly been used by commercial bill posters since the nineteenth century. In particular, it was widely used by nineteenth and twentieth century
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
bill posters, who developed a substantial culture around paste manufacture and postering campaigns. In the field of
alcohol and
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
advertising, in the 1890s,
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...
's posters were so popular that instructions were published on how to peel down the pasted posters without damage.
Until the 1970s, commercial poster hangers always "cooked" their own paste, but since then many have bought pre-cooked instant pastes.
It is applied to the backside of paper then placed on flat surfaces, particularly concrete and metal as it does not adhere well to wood or plastic. Cheap, rough paper such as
newsprint, works well, as it can be briefly dipped in the mixture to saturate the fibres.
When
hanging unauthorized billboards or signage, to reduce the danger of being caught, wheatpasters frequently work in teams or
affinity group
An affinity group is a group formed around a shared interest or common goal, to which individuals formally or informally belong. Affinity groups are generally precluded from being under the aegis of any governmental agency, and their purposes m ...
s. In the United States and Canada, this process is typically called "wheatpasting" or "poster bombing," even when using commercial wallpaper paste instead of traditional wheat paste. In the United Kingdom, commercial wheatpasting is called
flyposting
Flyposting (also known as wild posting or bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often ...
and wheatpasting associated with
urban art
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
is called
paste-up.
See also
*
Culture jamming
Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It att ...
*
Flyposting
Flyposting (also known as wild posting or bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often ...
*
Graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
*
Guerilla art
Guerrilla art is a street art movement that first emerged in the UK, but has since spread across the world and is now established in most countries that already had developed graffiti scenes. In fact, it owes so much to the early graffiti move ...
*
Papier-mâché
upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico
Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...
*
Stencil street art
*
Street art
*
Street installation
Street installations are a form of street art and installation art. While conventional street art is done on walls and surfaces street installations use three-dimensional objects set in an urban environment. Like graffiti, it is generally non-permi ...
*
Street poster art Street poster art is a kind of graffiti, more specifically categorized as "street art". Posters are usually handmade or printed graphics on thin paper. It can be understood as an art piece that is installed on the streets as opposed to in a gallery ...
*
Street art sculptures
*
Sticker art
*
Animal glue
Animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue in a process called rendering. In addition to being used as an adhesive it is used for coating and sizing, in decorative composition ornaments, and as a ...
*
Rice glue
Rice glue ( ja, 続飯, ) is a gel or liquid adhesive made of a smooth mush of well-cooked white rice, diluted to the desired thickness with water. It has been used since antiquity for various arts and crafts; for instance, it is a woodworking and ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2020
Adhesives
Visual arts materials
Graffiti and unauthorised signage