The DXARTS SoftLab is a studio and an online platform whose mission is to examine the role of workmanship in artistic research, to redefine the use of crafting in the post-digital era, and to explore the body as an interface of control and resistance. It is part of the Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) at the University of Washington in Seattle.
All tagged soft circuits
An interdisciplinary collaboration between the DXARTS Softlab and Studio Tilt (interaction design research studio run by Audrey Desjardins in Design), that manifests in the form of a print and web publication probing the connections of working with data-driven approaches and crafting physical artifacts
Thailand’s Lèse Majesté law data visualization on e-textiles and digital fabrication
Virtual artist talk by Mika Satomi on e-textiles, wearable technology, and artificial neural networks in the context of DXARTS 472 Mechatronic Art, Design and Fabrication II
Fourth meeting of the Wearable Narratives DRG focused on discussing ideas about individual projects and looking at reference projects for inspiration and for building a work methodology
Second meeting of the Wearable Narratives DRG was spent talking about e-textile materials and learning basic stitching and soft-circuit techniques
First online meeting of the Wearable Narratives directed research group at DXARTS, comprised by Esteban Yosef Agosin (DXARTS), Grace Barar (HCDE/DXARTS), Rylie Sweem (HCDE/DXARTS), Xintong Xu (Art IVA/ DXARTS),
Zoe Grace Kaputa (Computer Science), and Sadaf Sadri (Art Photomedia), and led by Afroditi Psarra.
An e-textile piece exploring environmental racism along the LA river
Artist talk at Fabricademy 2020-21 on current e-textiles research, cyberfeminist experiments, and the idea of embodiment through hacking technical artifacts.
An e-textile that explores how technology, sound, and movement can reimagine the body’s relationship to space and ‘A’rchitecture.
RBG sensor, electromyographic sensor, motor, and leds embed within my future skin for activation and protection. Entering upon a new spaces, the RBG sensor reads the aura of the room and sends that information through my new veins and communicated through lights. Sound is trigged from the electromyorphic information that my right arm indicates while taking in the colors.
Continuing her research into textile antennas and fractal geometry as a means to detect radio-frequency (RF) transmissions, in Embodied RF Ecologies, Afroditi Psarra aims speculate about the body as an agent of power in a post-capitalist world, and to re-interpret transmission technologies through handmade crafting techniques.
This wearable synth was inspired by the complexity of human emotions in conjunction with the comfort of human touch. Housed in a weighted sweater, the user experiences a subtle pressure on their shoulders, while the instrument is being played. Mimicking the feeling of being hugged, the user can squeeze the arms of the sweater, actuating the pressure sensors, intern synthesizing tones.
An interactive representation of a migraine aura. There's a soft pressure sensor built into one side of the cap, so that when you touch that side of the head, the lights blink faster and the origami tessellations move. I tried to capture the surreal psychedelic quality of a typical "fortification spectrum" visual aura.
An on-going collaboration between DXARTS professor Afroditi Psarra and choreographer Stephanie Liapis on e-textiles and dance improvisation taking place at Velocity Dance Center in Seattle.
I have been trying different fabrication methods for my music glove project and currently finished laser cutting the circuit from conductive fabric.
eTextile Spring Break camp - a week-long gathering of eTextile and electronic craft practitioners in upstate New York at the Wassaic Project from April 1-8, 2018.
On Tuesday, October 31st 2017 we had the opportunity to host media artist and scholar, Kate Sicchio from NYU on a series of talks and workshops on Movement and Wearables, as well as the concept of Choreotopology. Kate works at the interface of technology and performance. By opening a dialogue between how people move and how this may change by engaging with the digital, she aims to create choreography, performative scores, video, programming languages and hacking methodologies.
On May 2017, in the context of DXARTS 490B: E-textiles & Wearables for Art & Design, we had the opportunity to host a guest lecture and a mini-workshop with e-textiles practitioner, researcher and independent art curator, Tincuta Heinzel. The lecture was supported by the OLF Lectures Program of Fulbright Commission.
