COMPRESSION CULTURE : WHAT MIGHT BE LOST AND GAINED THROUGH COMPRESSION?
16/11/2015 – 15/1/2016 : Vertical Gallery, Benzie Building, MMU, Manchester
STATEMENT
A defining characteristic of my work has been the sustained commitment to the conceptual synthesis of contemporary technology and historical textile sources. Currently, my practice involves the examination of technology as a design tool by using the coding language of Processing as a method of reanimating the traditional textile patterns of Paradise Mill, Macclesfield.
This particular series plays on the ideas surrounding order and chaos. Is it a straight repeat that remains, or a chaotic one? Elements of the original fabric archive remain, but some new elements have been constructed during the coding process. These new designs present the old and the new, memories of the past archive, but also new coded elements are revealed.
The code acts as a compressor, ripping apart the original image, and piecing it back together again. Algorithms decide what is broken down, and what is kept of the original textile archive. Colour palettes are developed from specific ranges, predetermined by the code I’ve written. There’s an element of chance in the creation of this work as the code enviably dictates what is kept, what’s not, and what colour choice is ultimately selected from the predetermined range I set.
Thus, during the design process the core internal oppositions exist within the work; geometric and organic, construction and deconstruction, order and chaos.
