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| Programmable LED-mixed media necklace |
MFA in Emergent Media | Summer 2017 semester | Puzzles & Prototypes
Assignment: Iterative design project throughout the course of 9 weeks, pursuing personal interests
My main goal through this project was to explore electronic textile art forms and processes and to create some form of tactile art combined with electronics. My entire process was documented in the interactive Prezi below. It also includes tips for other newbies to e-textiles.
Artist statement (true to form, always in iteration):
Part deeply rooted desire to slow down in our rapidly-paced digital world.
Part exploration + experimentation of materials and methods new to the artist.
The artist’s process holds the importance of honoring the past of traditional women’s work in textile and fiber arts, while also embracing the potential of what it could mean to be a woman in a digital world. The pairing of the handcrafted textile-based nature and organic shapes of the prototype, alongside highly technical programmable electronics, represents the constant tension the artist feels in both directions.
Slow vs. fast. Physical vs. digital. Local vs. global. Handcrafted vs. mass produced.
This prototype raises questions of whether and how these polarities can live in harmony and beauty.
Materials: Linen, Glass, Vellum, Glue, Cotton Thread, Ribbon, Adafruit Flora microcontroller, Neopixel LEDs, Conductive thread, Batteries, Programmed with Arduino IDE.
This piece was selected as a finalist and exhibited during the Champlain College Spring 2018 inaugural Juried Student Show and can be seen in the event's catalog here on page 45. This piece was also on view during the Masters in Emergent Media 2018 show at the Champlain College Art Gallery in Burlington, VT.
