Crafting Textiles in the Digital Age

In an era of increasingly available digital resources, many textile designers and makers find themselves at an interesting juncture between traditional craft processes and newer digital technologies. Highly specialized craft/design practitioners may now elect to make use of digital processes in their work, but often choose not to abandon craft skills fundamental to their practice, and aim to balance the complex connection between craft and digital processes. The essays collected here consider this transition from the viewpoint of aesthetic opportunity arising in the textile designer’s hands-on experimentation with material and digital technologies available in the present. Craft provides the foundations for thinking within the design and production of textiles, and as such may provide some clues in the transition to creative and thoughtful use of current and future digital technologies. Within the framework of current challenges relating to sustainable development, globalization, and economic constraints it is important to interrogate and question how we might go about using established and emerging technologies in textiles in a positive manner.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Contributors Foreword J.R. Campbell, Kent State University, USA Introduction Faith Kane, Loughborough University, UK, Nithikul Nimkulrat, Estonian Academy of Art, Estonia, and Kerry Walton, Loughborough University, UK Part One: Digital Technologies Informing Craft Crafting Textiles in the Digital Age: Printed Textiles Cathy Treadaway, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK Digital Embroidery Practice Tina Downes, Nottingham Trent University, UK, Tessa Acti, Independent Artist, UK, and Donna Rumble-Smith, Independent Artist, UK Textile Illusions – Patterns of Light and the Woven White Screen Anne Louise Bang, Kolding School of Design, Denmark, Helle Trolle, Kolding School of Design, Denmark, and Anne Mette Larsen, Independent Researcher, Denmark The Intelligence of the Hand Monika Auch, Visual Artist, The Netherlands Part Two: Craft Intervention in Digital Process The Digital Print Room – A Bespoke Approach to Print Technology Helen Ryall, University of Huddersfield, UK and Penny Macbeth, Manchester School of Art, UK Maintaining the Human Touch – Exploring ‘Crafted Control’ within an Advanced Textile Production Interface Martin Woolley, Coventry University, UK and Rob Huddleston, Birmingham City University, UK Garment ID: Textile Patterning Techniques for Hybrid Functional Clothing Kerri Akiwowo, Loughborough University, UK Processes within Digitally Printed Textile Design Susan Carden, Northumbria University, UK Part Three: Craft Thinking in a Digital Age Hand-Knitting in a Digital Era Josephine Steed, Robert Gordon University, UK Hidden Values and Human Inconsistencies in Hand-Stitching Processes Emma Shercliff, Arts University Bournemouth, UK Perspectives on Making and Viewing: Generating Meaning through Textiles Sonja Andrews, University of Manchester, UK Closely Held Secrets: Embodied Knowledge in Digitally Crafted Textiles Katherine Townsend, Nottingham Trent University, UK Index

About the Author :
Nithikul Nimkulrat is the Professor and Head of Department of Textile Design at the Estonian Academy of Art, Estonia. Faith Kane is Associate Professor and Major Co-ordinator of Textiles in the School of Design, at the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, New Zealand. Kerry Walton is Programme Director for Textiles: Innovation and Design at the School of the Arts, Loughborough University, UK.

Review :
Crafting Textiles in the Digital Age is a timely debate on the concept and role of craft in textile creation and digital technology. The book’s contributors address various issues, reflecting on aesthetic, social, economic, and environmental point of views, making it a valuable think tank for researchers, practitioners, and makers within textiles. This book offers an overview of the current context and approach being taken to the making and crafting of contemporary digital textiles. It clearly defines the field of digital craft and outlines many key practitioners involved in pushing the boundaries of process, method, and materials. The book clearly demonstrates new and innovative thinking as well as the new visual language which emerges from crafting textiles through digital methods.