TK 730 (2011)

eTextiles Workspace group (Anja Hertenberger, Leonie Urff, Ricardo O’Nascimento and Meg Grant)

Sponsor: V2_Lab Host: V2_Lab

What happens when senses are cross-wired in the brain? Can data convey different meanings when interpreted as a purely visual object?  What other ways of interpreting a single piece of data could there be? This is what the TK Series attempts to explore.

The first machine in our series is the TK 730. This machine converts a piece of information, in this case words, into a knitted code that can be worn. It decodes the typed word and re-encodes it into the pattern of the knitwork in a sort of encryption procedure.

Our starting point for this encoding were the words text and textile. These words share the same origin – both come from the Latin texere, which means “to weave”.  From this premise one can observe many things in common between them.  A knitted textile work is comprised of lines and points, just like a piece of text. When you tell a story, you follow a thread in a similar way to a thread in a knitted work. It should be continuous and with no breaks. The story knitted by the TK 730 is one you can read, see, touch and wear.

This project was developed during a residency as part of a Summer Sessions residency at V2_.