Description
To understand how a more-than-human design approach unfolds in the context of digital fashion, this project bridges crafts, biofabrication and digital fabrication to explore the agency of -and partnerships between- different forms of intelligences.The advent of increasingly independent-like operating software and hardware requires a shift from humans delegating work to technologies, to co-performing activities and shaping them in the act (Bridle, 2022; Giaccardi and Redström, 2020, p.40). By conceptualizing design as the shaping of matter, processes, and energy (St.Pierre, 2019, p.92), the occupation of design not only extends to new technologies but also to other intelligences such as fungi, plants, and bacteria. How do these dynamics come together in a project where traces made by bacteria dye inform what is 3D printed?
Digital Fashion designer Maja Blom’s starting point was the role that nature -both as concept and reality- historically played in art and design. She was particularly interesting in the increased detachment from nature in Western society, driven by demands of consumerism and unsustainable economic pressure, and resulting in a mechanistic perspective on nature as a passive and mute resource for human activities. This disconnection hinders the potential for sustainable and innovative design solutions that align with nature.
Aiming to mend these connections in her practice, Blom has been trying to find common ground between living species, digital interfaces, the mechanical process of 3d printing, and herself. She examined the use of shibori folding techniques, and partnered up with bacteria, software, and 3D printers. The artist collaborated with Janthinobacterium Lividum, a bacterium that produces violacein, a violet-colored biodegradable pigment. A piece of cloth, folded with a shibori technique, soaked in liquid medium and sterilized, was introduced to the bacterium. Depending on factors such as how the piece of cloth is folded or placed, the growth medium, incubation conditions, and time, Janthinobacterium Lividium colors (parts of) the cloth violet blue and follows its own path, resulting in unique patterns. The outcome of this collaboration was photographed, edited, translated into a STL file, and printed. By using fabric as a scaffold, the 3D print retained the flexibility and fluidity of the initial bacterial dye. The outcome is an interactive design that reflects partnership, surprises, movement, chance, and control.
References:
Bridle, J. (2022) Ways of Being: Beyond Human Intelligence. Penquin Books.
Giaccardi, E., & Redström, J. (2020) Technology and More-Than-Human Design. Design Issues 36(4), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1162/desi_a_00612
St. Pierre, L. (2019). Design and Nature: a History. In K. Fletcher, L. St. Pierre, M. Tham (Eds.) Design & Nature: a Partnership (pp. 92-108). Routledge.
| Period | 20 Apr 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Dialogical Bodies : everybody as material - everything as material |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Boras, SwedenShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |