Development of Concept

Ing-A-Thing – Garment

Our group first started off by thinking about garment and its various connotations, such as its:

• materiality,
• techniques of making,
• culture,
• gender,
• status,
• feeling, and 
• distance.

First Ideation – Braid Together

Our first idea for the final performance was to have a tactile experience which involved the act of braiding to evoke ideas of childhood and intimacy. Using old fabric, we wanted to explore themes of nostalgia and sound. We were also thinking of including sound as an output to make the experience more multisensory. 

The initial sketch (left) included a panel with long strips of fabric which could be braided together and then the final wide braid could be removed to form a wearable cocoon.

 

Initially, we wanted to complete this entire process in a live performance but decided it would take too long to realistically finish in one sitting. In addition, we realised that we would need a lot of material in order to braid a cocoon large enough to fit a person, since braiding would effectively decrease the surface area of each piece of fabric. We shifted our focus more towards the materiality of fabric itself and to create an installation space instead.

Final Ideation – Weaving Passages

Keeping the same associations we wanted to explore earlier with regards to the thing of a ‘garment’, these were the final themes we wanted to address:

• Feelings that fabric can produce
  • Ideas of warmth and childhood
• Creating a safe haven that returns to a purer, untainted part of one’s life
• Singularity to cohesiveness
  • Through the action of braiding
  • Communal action to create a shared space that can be experienced together
  • Link back to ideas about youthfulness and nostalgia

The final installation would consist of three main features: the structure, the fabric and braiding, and the programming of sound. There would also be a final performance involving us activating the installation. The execution is as follows:

Development Process

Structure of the Tent

We made a virtual mockup of the structure in CAD. This structure would form the skeleton of the tent in which the fabric would go over. It is made up of two triangles attached with a long pole in the middle to form a tent like structure. Creating a jig the bamboo was cut at 45 degree angles, and then holes are drilled into it to attach bolts in order to join the bamboo sections with string.

However the bamboo cracked when we tried to drill holes into it. Another difficulty was that the poles had different diameters which makes attaching them more complicated. We decided to switch to metal poles instead which could be attached together with removable screw locks. We tested building the structure out first in the IM room, and found that the height and length of the tent worked well as an installation.

Sewing the roof section

After collecting old bedsheets and pillowcases from our friends, we cut them into 45 by 45 cm squares and sewed 6 squares in a row, which we tried testing the length of by draping it over the top and onto strings that we tied across from one triangle to another.

In total we needed 7 strips to over the whole surface area of the roof. We sewed each strip individually before attaching them together to form a large quilt of 42 squares in total.

Braiding test

Using some jute, we pulled a length of string the width of our structure and began to section ropes of 1.4m long, spreading them out evenly to form a net which we could attach the fabric scraps to with knots.

 

Programming Process

Initial soundscape development

Our first idea for the soundscape was to use a webcam feed and analyse the colours being braided to translate that into a soundscape output. For this to work, the participant would have to braid from the inside of the structure, section by section with the webcam scanning it in real time.

Using TouchDesigner, we created a program that would analyse the colours of the video feed from the webcam and translate that to audio output.

However, we realised that the braiding would not happen fast enough to produce obvious colour changes in real time to make changes to the soundscape as the participants were braiding. We decided to change the input to motion instead which would affect the soundscape in a quicker and more directly noticeable way. This would also allow participants to move freely instead of restricting them to one area of braiding at a time.

The soundscape is made with GarageBand. We recorded individual notes on different octaves, which helped to form the bassline and middle registers. For the higher registers, we used synth keyboards to create sound effects which would come into play when there was more movement detected. 

Here is the breakdown for the TouchDesigner program used during the participatory performance process:

(The average-based motion detection is used for base registers while the 3×3 grid based is used for middle and high registers.)

Installing the structure in the performance space

After finalising the set-up of the structure, we moved the poles out into the installation space outside the ADM gallery to begin setting up for the performance. After putting up the roof piece, we also punched holes into the edge and secured it to the jute with some string to stop the fabric from sagging towards the center. As a finishing touch, we also covered the black poles in jute and white string to make the whole structure look more inviting and organic which was what we had originally intended with the bamboo. 

We added some large sheets of fabric as well as a bag of small fabric scraps on the ground for the particpants to add on to the weaving.

Weaving performance with participants

Using the iMac running the TouchDesigner program, we displayed some simple instructions to let passers-by know that they could participate in the installation.

Final Performance

This was the initial flow of the final performance we had planned, as we envisioned that the participants would braid the fabric downwards to form the walls of the tent, and create a structure that people could walk through. 

However, during the participatory weaving process, some participants tied ropes from the two ends of the structure together, essentially connecting the two ‘walls’ of the tent in the middle.

Since we could not walk through the structure with ease, we decided to turn the performance into activating the structure as a place for rest instead. Using some foam, we created a futon by covering it with some fabric and adding some pillows. As part of the final preparation, we also tied up loose ends and tried to cover up larger holes that were still not covered by any fabric. In addition, we tried out adding lights to the inside, which would also be part of the final activation for the performance piece. 

For the final performance, Amanda and I unraveled the lights, weaving it throughout the installation, and finally brought in the futon and pillows. During this process, Yixue held on to a webcam and moved around the structure, scanning our movements to produce a soundscape. After we were done, we gave each of our classmates a piece of fabric and invited them to attach it to the installation and rest under it.

Here is the final video of the process, and the activation performance!