Eva Strøm: Technology and textile – innovation practices
Assistant professor, Oslo University College, Faculty of Art, Design and Drama
At the Faculty of Art, Design and Drama at Oslo University College the digital media, as a practical and creative tool, has a long and perseverant history. From the early eighties up until this day, the way in which we approach and make use of this media has changed radically. In this context I would like to point out some work that has been done in the digital area related to the subject; design and weaving of textiles.
Creativity is demonstrated by the generation of many solutions instead of gravitating quickly toward a single and usually familiar solution that is not necessarily the optimal one. Using tools that enable experimentation facilitates the creative process. In working with the subject theory in weaving, the drawing of weaving diagrams is an essential task in the process of planning and executing an idea. Traditionally these diagrams had been drawn by hand on checked paper. It was a laborious task demanding both accuracy and patience and therefore in some ways prohibiting an innovative approach to the matter.
I would like to address this issue by highlighting some angles concerning the use of the digital media in this field.
First I will go back in history and give you a brief account of the development of digital software dealing with the construction of weave diagrams. I will in this context concentrate my account on the work that has been done by Kari Bratsberg, a former lecturer at our college.
Then I will show you how this software was implemented in the teaching process at our college. By giving you some examples of how the use of this media resulted in textile expressions that most likely would not have been executed on a hand weaver’s loom. I will demonstrate the impact this tool has made on our way of designing and producing hand woven textiles.
Last I would like talk about a project that I have carried out in a Nordplus network; the designing of a database for the systematisation of Nordic weave terminology. The database presents the theoretic structures of weaving as a visual hieratic system, both with abstract representations (the weave diagrams) and with images of the actual textile. The intention has been to include examples of historical textiles as well as recently produced materials. This application is to be used as an e – learning resource for students in the participating Nordic institutions. The collaborating institutions have been: Yrkeshögskolan Sydväst, Åbo, Högskolan i Borås, Fagseminariet i Skals and Høgskolen I Oslo.
By using a highly sophisticated technological tool, the computer, we have been able to facilitate the student’s ability to design and produce innovative expressions in the field of hand weaving. The Nordic weave database has enabled the relatively small weaving communities in each institution to share knowledge through a collaborative Internet based e-learning resource.
As educational institutions both the development of digital software and the creation of a collaborative application has given us an unique opportunity work within an e-learning environment where it is easy to learn, in which existing bodies of knowledge can be readily accessed, examined, visualized, related and executed.