Skip to main content

Aesthetics and Technology

Last week I was invited to the  Scratch Conference at MIT Media Lab to talk about my experience as an artist-in-residence at Eleanor Roosevelt High school in New York City.

The MIT Media Lab has a long tradition of connecting the latest technological advances to wider audiences.  Among many other things, the researchers there are developing tools that allow teaching to code in a variety of settings; for example, in an art classroom. 


One of the examples of such important tools is TurtleStitch.  Due to its unique combination of coding and textile crafts, TurtleStitch allows educators to bridge the logical and haptic. 

It allows students to design and code their own patterns and then stitch them using a sewing machine. The experience during my residency showed that, in order to truly engage the artistically inclined students and to create compelling final products, the process needs to combine both the principles of programming and the principles of art design.


I also presented two of the hand- and computer-embroidered books that were created using TurtleStitch during my residency.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Born of Love, Shakespeare's Sonnet 151

Over the summer I worked on new artwork, Born of Love , inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 151. The book offers a translation of the sonnet to the language of textiles and embroidery.  Working on this book allowed me to explore the beauty of textiles from four continents.  Its construction is inspired by the poetic structure within the sonnet.  This book, along with two other of my art pieces, will be on exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library from 16 Sept 2024 - 9 Feb 2025.
Post a Comment
Read more

Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan

Art is Life I was introduced to Candy Jernigan's art and book when I was going through cancer treatment more than a decade ago.  Her meticulously arranged collages, paintings, and drawings have had a profound impact on the way I view art, life, and visual storytelling.   Before reading her book, I had never seen how powerful art journaling could be -- that it could also be an artistic tool for social commentary. Candy Jernigan (b. 1952- 1991) attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  Soon after graduating she became a painter, set and costume designer in Provincetown, MA.  In Evidence , Stokes Howell wrote, " By the time she returned to New York in 1980 she was starting to develop the themes and methods she would work with the rest of her life."   Candy described the transformative process of taking found objects, "trash," and discarded materials from life and turning them into art: "In 1980, as I set out on my first trip to Europe, I decided...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flowers For Mistress Overdone, 2024

 Coded Threads: Translating Shakespeare Through Art The following is a page from Flowers For Mistress Overdone , the first of two books that I presented at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Nov 16. The pages for the books are created with textiles from 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America).  The textiles were collaged and sewn into various designs. The fabric on the left is a collage of American and Tanzanian fabrics that I combined with one of my linocuts.  The fabric on the right was an original mid century modern English quilt top I purchased at London's Antique Quilt Company during my summer in the UK researching Shakespeare's texts.  The owner, Christopher, sources the highest quality textiles and it was truly a joy to transform this quilt into pages of my books inspired by Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. It was wonderful to present a few of my original artworks and embroidered books during my talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library....
Post a Comment
Read more