Textile Society of America
Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings
Date of this Version
2024
Document Type
Proceeding
Citation
Textile Society of America 2024 Symposium
Shifts & Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles, November 12-17, 2024, a virtual event
Abstract
Weaving and music are art forms often perceived as unrelated but actually share deep connections and fascinating similarities. In this presentation, I will first briefly introduce the impact of the 19th-century Jacquard loom on the invention of the Player Piano, a musical technology that evolved into the modern "MIDI" computer audio notation system. Second, I will explore the similarities found in both weaving and musical composition by presenting some of my own media installation art works. These works translate musical scores into woven textures, and vice versa, creating symphonies and revealing new sensory ways to appreciate textiles and music. I aim to demonstrate how textiles can become a medium for musical composition and how music can inspire the design of textile patterns. Animating my explorations is a concern to expand the accessibility of textiles by converting visual, tactile, and auditory experiences into one another, which can be enjoyed by people with sensory impairments. Additionally, I hope to encourage an understanding and aesthetic appreciation of textile techniques considered 'automated', but which nest within them many beautiful subtleties.
Included in
Art and Materials Conservation Commons, Art Practice Commons, Fashion Design Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Museum Studies Commons, Music Theory Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons
Comments
Published by the Textiles Society of America
Copyright 2024, the author. Used by permission