thefutureisweave

[thefutureisweave]

And here, a few little material experiments my first supervisor (Dr Peter Walters) and I did in the first year. We 3D printed different structures and filaments onto cloth i'd woven and onto multiple layers of muslin. This practice was all part of how I got to where I am now, despite it not being directly related to the research mentioned in the thesis. He was an expert in 3D printing and it was interesting to have his engineering input into my weave practice. After he left, my research changed direction. I had a few months of no-supervisor supervision, so I looked inward and reverted back to trying to understand weaving. It was only in Stage 3 of the practice research that the 3D printing element re-emerged, but this time as a form of visualisation not as experimentation.

[thefutureisweave]

On reflection, this weave was part of my transformation.

I'd never considered this woven piece as part of my PhD, as the practice wasn't directly related to my question and it was woven during maternity leave. A period in my life I was in survival mode 24/7, I wasn't thinking thesis, I wasn't even thinking weave. I just wove. This weave reflects the almost elemental state I was in. The need for connection with material and familiar structures. The contrasting scale and texture. Jumping between delicate and rough.

Because although I wasn't 'researching', I was still on a journey of research, which influenced my approach to research when I returned to the PhD. I was altered, my thinking was altered, this weave shows the path of alteration.

[thefutureisweave]

This is the feedback I had today from client i've spent the last two months doing some ghost writing for. I was a bit apprehensive to take on this commission, as I'm also writing up the thesis and I thought it would have been too much to take on. However, I'm so glad I did.

I've had a love/ hate relationship with writing my whole life and for most of the PhD period, it has been serious hate, and this project has helped to turn that frown upside-down. I've decided the reasons for this project being enjoyable were: short timeframe; the wordcount was a mere 4000; I enjoyed the research; I've always wanted to know more about the subject matter anyway; I enjoyed my interactions with the client; I've had lovely feedback!

I thought I should write about this because the comments actually weave right into my current reading about crafting a writing style. I am aware that more than often, academic writing, especially PhDs are dry, verbose and uninspiring, which is a real shame, considering so many years, blood, sweat and tears will have gone into the research. I think a few of the reasons i've been struggling to write mine are partly due to the sheer quantity of words required, the desert of well crafted theses, but mainly down to the lonely existence one has when writing about the same thing for 6 years. So, In an effort to rectify these negative feelings I have towards my thesis, I've decided to write my thesis like I was weaving it.

I wasn't aware that I was writing the commissioned essay as if it were a woven piece, but on reflection I think this was because I let the thoughts flow through my hands. This is how I weave. The writing became my textile. I managed to layer the text, I added colour, I created texture, I interwove the elements to create a story. Have I managed to do this through my tacit knowledge of weave? Has this knowledge manifest itself through text? Catherine Dormor (2020) states "textiles [is] a form of mediation between matter, process and concept." Is text textiles, maybe? Afterall, the word text is derived from the Latin texere, meaning to weave. I want the thesis to be a textural representation of weave. Can both my practice and my writing be woven?

Tim Ingold, anthropologist, (2020) says "we scholars should work our words as craftspeople work their materials in ways that testify, in their inscriptive traces, to the labour of their production, and that offer these inscriptions as things of beauty in themselves.” This is my goal. Afterall, my practice is my research and my research is my practice.

[thefutureisweave]

This image shows a participant from my most recent workshop, wearing a VR headset, holding VR controllers. The purple 3D form in the foreground is what the participant can see in the virtual space.

The virtual 3D form is a replica of the 3D structure the participant created in the 3D Weaving workshop a few months ago. The participant will then have a go at weaving around this shape in the virtual space and compare it to the physical weaving method.

The participant moves around the object, re-sizes it, re-colours it. They maneuver themselves around the shape, weaving a virtual line in and out of the dents, up and over itself. Seeing another weaver have a go at virtual weaving for the first time was eye opening. The initial enthusiasm that I showed, was evident in the remarks of delight during the activity. I think i've spent too long by myself, in my own thoughts and lost the joy that comes out of sharing a creative moment collectively.

[thefutureisweave]

Here is a clip of me weaving in the virtual world. I have a headset on my face and a controller in each hand. I am using an Oculus 2 headset because it doesn’t require a high spec gaming computer on which to run. It is as portable as VR headsets get.

The more I use VR, the less I enjoy it. In fact, I think i’ve reached the point of me disliking it and I’m going to unpick why I think that is. The headset is uncomfortable and because of this I am always aware of its presence - this piece of heavy, ugly (and it is ugly - a big white plastic box) technology strapped to my face. It pushes my glasses into the bridge of my nose and sucks to my forehead and when I remove the mask, it has left a pink ring on my forehead as if to say - i’ve used you, you can’t forget me that easily. 

The controllers are plastic. The entire Oculus 2 headset is plastic - slightly matt in texture, but still with that unmistakable plastic, unsatisfying feel that doesn’t sing to one’s sense of touch. The controllers are a big hindrance in the ease of use - the headset does have hand tracking technology, but this is very crude and clunky - there is no way it captures the small gestures needed when using Gravity Sketch. The controller buttons make that unmistakable sound of plastic being pushed into plastic by clammy fingers. 

When in this virtual space, the light is jarring and left me squinting into the daylight when it was taken off. There certainly is no way it imitates natural light. It just feels like i’m staring at yet another screen and I begin to get a headache and start to feel dizzy after about fifteen to twenty minutes. 

Wearing the VR headset is a novelty and the action of weaving in VR is certainly informative and intriguing, however the physicality of using the hardware is unpleasant, which in my opinion defeats the object of weaving. Weaving in its raw form is physical, it is sensorial in all aspects. The sensation of touching, smelling, listening to the fiber, the tools and the loom taps into the primeval human and uncovers this intuitive knowledge within the weaver.

[thefutureisweave]

Two Non-Weaver Woven pieces. My first observation, on looking closely, was that both pieces are threaded up differently. One winds the warp in-between the teeth and the other has a more improvised mixture of warping techniques - winding in-between the teeth and around the frame. One presents itself as an artefact (there is a feeling of synthesis between materials and participant - creating a tactile image of the conversation); one as a design (repetition of yarn, colour and weave structure) - this one starts with a section using one combination of choices and moves onto a larger repeat of another combination. Both woven pieces show the evolution of their weave understanding - moving from the simple to the more complex.

[thefutureisweave]

Learning to read the yarns. This video shows another ‘non-weaver’ immersed in activity 1. She is weaving an aluminium strip into her cotton warp - slowly, and methodically using the tips of her fingers to manipulate the material under and over the cotton. She has actually already woven in the blue PLA filament that is above the weft pick she is weaving and you can watch her push both yarns down, into place. The participant had clearly made the decision to change her design after she had woven in the blue material, and instead of pulling out the pick, she decided to utilise the ridged nature of the material and insert another material below it. The video shows how the participant is beginning to work with the materials and make conscious design decisions alongside. 

[thefutureisweave]

A non-weaver weaving. I replicated the weaving workshop with ‘non-weavers’ as participants. Although they all said they had never woven, as they began to get a feel for the activity, on delving deeper into their creative past, every single one remembered they had picked up some kind of material as a child and woven something. Each participant had a creative background, so they all had the pre-disposition to be experimental and inquisitive. This is what I wanted - no knowledge of weave, but a creative sensibility.

Here you see a video of a Printmaker having a play with materials during Activity 1. It is so interesting how she manipulates the yarn into an abstract form once it has been woven into the warp. The participant chose copper wire for the warp and leather and pla yarns for the weft. The manipulation of the materials shows she gets to understand these yarns quickly and plays with the slippery nature of the wire with the rough, thick leather.

[thefutureisweave]

Activity 2 - Participant is winding the first yarn around the 3D shape.

Here another participant has also created a symmetrical 3D frame and is winding the yarn around the 3D frame to create a uniform, symmetrical warp. I call this first yarn the warp, as this is the yarn that is used to hold the inserted weft yarns. The yarns interlock, sometimes, but not always at right angles.

[thefutureisweave]

Activity 2 - Flat, disks with notches around the edge were used to create 3D forms, which were then used as 3D weaving frames by the participants.

Here one participant is deciding where to place the disks. The final 3D shape was symmetrical. This reflected the participant’s need to “create balance in a weave design” - she mentions an innate draw to have some kind of symmetry within any weaving she makes - this could be symmetry in structure, colour and/or texture. Here the symmetry is created in the weaving frame, to enable symmetry in the form of the weave.

This desire to “create balance in weave” is a result of years of weave design experience: appreciation of aesthetics, understanding of structural integrity in woven cloth, knowledge of yarn properties.

[thefutureisweave]

Watch a workshop participant warp up a frame and choose her weft yarns.

Activity One - To play around with weaving using a laser cut weaving frame.

This video shows one participant winding on a warp of wool/ lycra mix and choosing a combination of yarn textures and colours to use as weft yarns.

The participant had a few years of weaving experience behind her, but had never woven on a weaving frame as basic as this. But I only had to explain how to wind a warp on once and they were away. Choosing the yarns they were drawn to in colour and texture. I specifically asked them to weave intuitively and play around with structure, yarn, colour, as this activity was about the hands-on process of weaving, not the outcome. However, it was clear that to all participants, the outcome was at the forefront of their mind as they chose their materials, as each of the outcomes had a uniformity to them in some way - yarn/ colour/ structure/ texture.

This is evidence of a weaver’s knowledge of design playing a role in the process of weaving, despite the weavers being unconscious of employing it.

Looking at this video, it is clear the weaver’s knowledge of colour, yarn and structure are untilised through this haptic play. The textile is uniform in design, evidence of the weaver’s decision to have found a combination of colour/ yarn/ structure that was appealing and to stick to it. 

[thefutureisweave]

Here is an image of one participant’s work in progress for Activity 1.

I should point out that the weavers started the day not knowing what the activities were and could therefore not plan or have any idea in their head or on paper. The purpose of not giving the participants a chance to plan, was to try to capture an intuitive response to the activities and materials, as opposed to a prepared response. In capturing a more intuitive response to weaving, I believe the participants have a more immediate relationship with the process of weaving, making it easier for me to access their knowledge.

She has chosen contrasting materials (leather, fleece and silver plastic tape) and colours (black, neon orange, silver) as her weft yarns and a cotton/lycra yarn as the warp. The combination of weave structure and weft placement resulted in an outcome that appears to have depth and a 3D texture. This outcome would have been the result of years of experience and knowledge working with different materials

[thefutureisweave]

This image shows one participant demonstrating the warping up method to another participant. This surprised me, as I assumed that as my participants were experienced weavers, they would all know how to use a very basic weaving frame. This goes to show that there is always more than one way to learn and progress weave knowledge and that sometimes it is useful for experienced weavers to go back to basics in order to learn something new. The frames used were laser cut by me and the design can be downloaded from The Interlace Project, for free.

Despite a few of the participants not immediately knowing how to warp up these frames, they quickly understood the ins and outs, using their tacit and experiential knowledge to complete the task. They also had colour, yarn and material understanding that went into the choosing of warp, weft and weave composition, so they did not start the activity a complete weaving beginners, but as weave experts that furthered their knowledge through learning.

[thefutureisweave]

Here are three images of outcomes from my 4d weaving workshop with the fabulous participants, Dash and Miller. The workshop took place over a morning with lots of coffee, croissants and easter eggs. It was a relaxed environment - sitting around  large table, slightly packed in, but only because I had brought along a vast selection of treats and weaving goodies that spilled onto our laps.

The aim of this workshop was to try to understand weave thinking and knowledge, through hands on making and discussion. I had six very experienced weavers in my company for the entire morning and it was just wonderful. I think the participants ended the workshop feeling pleasantly surprised by their findings, which I wasn’t anticipating. I thought it was going to be an incredibly hard challenge - teaching old weavers new tricks!

[thefutureisweave]

Throughout my practice research I have used documentation methods (reflective writings, audio and video recordings, photographs, sketch books and textile samples) that, in retrospect reflect the huge changes that were taking place in my life. I consider Igoe’s (2013) rationale behind her thesis journey and acknowledge the similarities to my thesis journey.

Matrixal theory supports a research approach that promotes the inclusivity of the researcher in the research project and would deny the notion that the two could be separated. In my own experience, It is undeniable that I am in a trans-subjective ‘encounter’ within my research. I see how my life has shaped the developments of my learning, thinking, making, teaching and writing in both explicit and implicit terms (Igoe,2021).

Elaine Igoe has clearly and succinctly deciphered Ettinger’s Matrixal theory, aided by Pollock and Butler. In understanding Igoe’s interpretation of Ettinger’s Matrixality as the connection between the development of the researcher’s life and the researcher’s practice, through the eyes of the female psyche, I identify Matrixality as present throughout the timeline of this PhD. As I have moved through the PhD process, my practice has changed, my thinking has changed, my life has changed. I have metamorphosed along side of my practice and phd. The influence my life has had on my thinking can’t be ignored. Since returning to a full-time Phd as a mother, I have produced a series of reflective writings that look back on my PhD practice retrospectively, looking at it through the eyes of matrixality.

[thefutureisweave]

A little weaver.

The association between weaving and the female sphere has always fascinated me, but until today, I thought it was an association that was separate or detached from my PhD practice. The weave of myths and ancient cultures link the womb and the warp/ childbirth and weaving. Wisdom, matriarchy, sisterhood, creating cloth, creating life - creativity.

As I try to look inward to retrace the path of the PhD I find myself retracing the path of weaving. How have I got to where I am and where am I going? Oh the existentialism! My current warp was put on just before my baby arrived into this world, I wove three inches and then nothing for a year. I decided to put a new warp on so close to his birth because I thought somehow the act of weaving would relax me enough to get the oxytocin flowing and start the labour! Well, I suppose in some magical way the two were linked, but in reality I was so uncomfortable and fidgety at this stage I just became impatient at the slowness of the growing cloth. The warp was narrow, silk, threaded in a block draft with silver and ochre ends alternating - delicate and designed for detail. Once the baby was here, the loom sat silent, behind a door, for a year. The warp patiently waiting to be woven and me, impatiently waiting for a spare gap in the day to weave. I felt incredibly guilty - deserting this magnificent machine for an entire year, letting the design plan fade from my intentions. This guilt wasn’t assuaged by the fact that I was sustaining a little human instead, in fact, it often intensified when I had a rare moment to myself and all I wanted to do was sleep. 

The warp prior to this one was a wide, rough jute one. This grew steadily and intuitively. It was designed and threaded inbetween a miscarriage and an operation - a chapter that was particularly dark and made me question the role of the female, myself. But, I started to weave this rough fibre as a new little life took hold and grew within me. I wove unplanned shapes and colours of cotton and silk into the thick, course jute, immersing myself in the feel of the yarns and the rhythmical sound of the loom. Even writing now, I am beginning to recognise the significance of the specific yarns and structures chosen throughout the last two years. The decisions that I thought were rational, were perhaps intuitive and unconscious instead.

Since I have taken up the shuttle again ‘intuition’ and ‘immersive’ have been key words when writing about my practice. My autoethnographic approach is certainly linked to ‘matrixality’ - a theory explained by Elaine Igoe as supporting “a research approach that promotes the inclusivity of the researcher in the research project and would deny the notion that the two could be seperated.”  - The female/ myself, as a woman, is a valid perspective from which to approach the practice. Yarns metamorphosize into cloth and into clothes as the weaver metamorphosizes during and after each act of weaving. The act of weaving is transformative for the weaver and the yarn.

I don’t think I want to go down the route of feminist design theory, but can I ignore it? I can relate - the progression of my practice and life are entwined. But how introspective should I be?  If anything it feels indulgent, but I suppose PhDs are indulgent acts of introspection. There is a guilt attached to being indulgent. Is part of this guilt spun from the mother guilt we feel? 

[thefutureisweave]

This video shows my view in VR of the 3D woven model that I have just designed. The narrow lines will be deleted in Rhino 3D to leave a series of hand drawn lines that represent the warp and weft. I then intend to 3D print this.