2009
Specially developed and produced woven analogue e-textile system with integrated micro-electronics. This soft display is equipped with tiny LED lights, miniature transistors and woven electronic circuits seamlessly integrated into the luminous electronic cloth structure produced using digital Jacquard loom.
Zane Berzina (LV, DE, GB) & Jackson Tan (SG, GB)
Static electricity is a natural phenomenon surrounding our everyday interactions but we rarely notice its presence. The team of designers and scientists behind this project explored how the easily accessible but little utilised phenomena of electrostatic could add to our sensory experiences and advance the knowledge of interactive environments.
The luminous electronic textile installation acts as a static display or mirror – responding to the usually invisible electrostatic charges generated by people interacting with materials and their surroundings, and makes these interactions visible. Equipped with tiny LED lights, miniature transistors and interwoven electronic circuits seamlessly integrated into the architectural fabric membranes, the fully analogue installation is able to create transient audio-visual patterns in areas which detect a presence of electrostatic fields, responding to the charges created by viewers and objects. Simultaneously it acts as a simple sonic instrument in response to the presence and intensity of the charges, human proximity and touch. In this way E-Static Shadows is initiating playful interactions between the viewer(s) and the space and provokes a higher awareness of the potential of electrostatic fields surrounding our habitat. By doing so it also advances the potential for a technology that allows us to interact with the omnipresent but hidden electrostatic forces.
More information on the project website: www.zaneberzina.com/e-staticshadows.htm
Artist bios:
Originally from Latvia, as a practice-led researcher, artist and designer Zane Berzina works across the boundaries of design, art, textile crafts, materials science, electronics and theory. She creatively synthesizes artistic and scientific approaches through her work in order to produce physical artifacts and proposals for responsive and sensory environments, exploring possibilities within the field of soft technologies. Through her research work she attempts to bridge the gap between aesthetics and technology, and explores the potential and questions, the advances in technology and materials science offer, giving visual, material and conceptual form to these changes. Zane Berzina holds PhD from The University of Arts London, is Professor at the Art College Berlin-Weissensee, Germany and an Associate of the Goldsmiths Digital Studios, University of London. She is also a Co-founder of Interaction Lab and GREENLAB – Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies both based at the Art College Berlin-Weissensee in Germany.
www.zaneberzina.com
London-based architect Jackson Tan, originally from Singapore, received his BA in Architecture from the National University of Singapore and completed his graduate diploma in architecture with the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London in 2005 where his unit was awarded with the 2005 Bartlett summer show opener’s prize by Wolf Prix of Coop Himmelb(l)au. He is the co-founding director of in square lab, an interdisciplinary architecture firm based in London. in square lab specialises in time based architectural practice and research, in particularly within the field of responsive environments and has worked with prestigious clients such as Harvey Nichols, China Central Television and Moving Picture Company. Jackson’s works and writings have been exhibited and published in numerous countries, including China, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, USA, Sweden and others.
www.insquarelab.co.uk
