GRID INPUTS

Statement

Grid inputs are shared among digital and textile outputs. “Invisible” charts, like paper graphs with blocks of colors, or matrices with numerical values, output data in a similar fashion: as individual, color-coded pixels or stitches arranged specifically on a larger grid (in the form of a textile or digital display). By creating work in these mediums, I am demonstrating the shared origin in textile design and computational data storage.

Background

Grid inputs became an accidental but necessary aspect of my process, starting with the knitting machine. I started by gridding the shapes of a garment and the colors of an intarsia design on graph paper. I was using a Brother KH-891 machine, which is non-electronic and as a punched card as an input. I experimented lightly with the punched card input, but was frustrated because the design can only be a maximum of 24 stitches wide.

I later acquired a, electric Brother KH-910 machine, which uses a larger, more modern input - a mylar card. This provided a great number of data to work with. The mylar sheet can hold a design 60 stitches wide by 150 stitches tall. These dimensions became helpful constraints in my work and eventually determined aspects of Tigerbob Playing Cards, Undulation, and Tigerbob Mystery Garden.

Unfortunately, the electronic hardware on these machines are more than 40 years old. It was rare enough that my machine’s card reader could work at all. Eventually, I replaced the card reader for a hardware/software hack called AYAB. This community project was created to provide alternative control of the Brother KH-9xx series with a computer, especially once the existing hardware no longer works. 

Working my way up from manual hand-charted graphs to non-electric punched cards, then to electronic mylar card readers and then to AYAB gave me insight how textiles and their corresponding became instrumental to the design of data storage and modern computing. 

Working back and forth along this chain of digital art and physical outputs made me realize they are both parts of the same whole. “Invisible” graphs, in the form of matrices with numerical values, or blocks of color on paper, are interchangeable with their digital or physical counterparts.

Research

A number of textiles are represented by colored marks on paper, like weaving drafts and counted-thread embroidery; however, these charts must be manually read and translated directly by human operation. It was not until the invention of the jacquard loom that charts became readable directly by machinery, in the form of the first punched cards. 

It was interesting for me to discover that Susan Kare, one of the artists who designed work for the early Macintosh computer, created the work with textiles in mind. Susan Kare had no prior experience working with computers, and found inspiration from what she knew (quote below).

Presentation

On this page you will find a selection of grid inputs I use in my work. I also include examples of how these grids appear output as knitted structures or digital art.

19th century hand painted French textile pattern/chart.
(courtesy of Tihngs)

 A page from a book a weaving drafts called “A Handweaver’s Pattern Book, Revised Edition” by Marguerite Porter Davidson.

Except from Alex Soojung-Kim Pang “Interview with Susan Kare.” Making the Macintosh, February 20, 2001.