Mathematics is the foundation of activities such as knitting, stitching, measuring and cutting that are crucial to crafting and fabrication
The exhibition "Beauty is the First Test" runs form 27 April – 30 June 2013 at The National Centre for Craft & Design, Navigation Wharf, Carre Street, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34, UK.
"The group show explores how mathematical concepts underpin craft techniques, aiming to 'demystify a subject that intimates both adults and children', according to the centre. The exhibition demonstrates how mathematics is the foundation of activities such as knitting, stitching, measuring and cutting that are crucial to crafting and fabrication. Showcasing works in disciplines including textiles and sculpture, the show will feature work from artists including Michael Brennand–Wood, Janice Gunner, Lucy McMullen and Ann Sutton.
Alongside the visual proof that maths can indeed be fun – and pretty – the exhibition also presents case studies of five makers, including Gail Baxter and Margo Selby, exploring how the development of their work was furthered by an understanding and appreciation of mathematics."
(Emily Gosling, 27 March 2013, Design Week)
Fig.1 Janette Matthews, "Optical Ellipse". Fig.2 Ann Sutton, "Four Ways from a Square", 2009.
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Stylus: business intelligence and inspiration to drive new ideas
"Culture & Media reveals how the worlds of entertainment, media and digital and the creative side of marketing and advertising influence cultural movements that impact on business decisions. Expert reports on art, graphics, illustration and global exhibitions offer visual inspiration for inquisitive creative minds."
(Stylus media group)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Knowledge for Innovation Knit e-pedia Knowledge Bank
"The Knowledge Bank provides access to e–learning materials specific to the textile industry. The subjects cover knitting technology, clothing technology, medical textiles, equal opportunities and the role of textiles in the global economy. The content is freely available to companies and individuals"
(William Lee Innovation Centre, Textiles and Paper, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, 2007)
nb. this project was previously located here: http://www.knitepedia.co.uk
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
The Jacquard loom: automation through stored programmes
"In consequence of the Industrial Revolution, the late 18th century had witnessed a considerable expansion in the automation of processes that had once been the preserve of small groups of highly skilled workers employed in so–called 'cottage industries'. The textile industry was one sphere were industrialisation had rendered obsolete such skills. Whereas, prior to the development of mechanical looms and weaving machines, lengths of fabric had to be woven slowly by hand, the advent of powered tools for carrying out this task meant that quantities of fabric could be mass–produced at a far quicker rate than previously, thereby reducing its expense. There was one area, however, where the new machines could not compete with skilled manual workers: in the generation of cloth containing anything other than a plain (or at best extremely simple) woven pattern. The Jacquard Loom provided a solution to this problem so that, with it in use, extremely intricate patterns and pictures could be automatically woven into cloth at much the same rate as a plain length of fabric could be generated. The key idea behind Jacquard's loom was to control the action of the weaving process by interfacing the behaviour of the loom to an encoding of the pattern to be reproduced. In order to do this Jacquard arranged for the pattern to be depicted as a groups of holes 'punched' into a sequence of pasteboard card. Each card contained the same number of rows and columns, the presence or absence of a hole was detected mechanically and used to determine the actions of the loom. By combining a 'tape' of cards together the Jacquard loom was able to weave (and reproduce) patterns of great complexity, e.g. a surviving example is a black and white silk portrait of Jacquard woven under the control of a 10,000 card 'program'."
(Paul E. Dunne, University of Liverpool)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
DAP-Lab: cross-media performance lab
"DAP–Lab is a cross–media lab exploring convergences between performance, telematics, textile/fashion design and movement, clothing and choreography, visual expression, film/photography, and interactive design.
Founded in 2004, the Lab is now housed at Brunel University and continues research partnerships with multiple sites in the USA, Japan, and Brasil which have formed the ADaPT network on performance telematics since 2000. DAP–Lab also connects ongoing research investigations and productions in dance (Digital Cultures) with performance/science collaborations (TransNet), and brings these partnerships into knowledge transfer with performance, multimedia and electronics engineering research at Brunel University's School of Arts and School of Engineering and Design."
(Johannes Birringer)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
