CTF sid 1-6 - Högskolan i Borås

Transcription

Contents
The Nordic Textile Journal
3
The Textile Research Centre, CTF
4
Hallnäs, Lars, Zetterblom, Margareta
Design for Sound Hiders
9
Haavisto, Virpi
Power of Artistic Creation
18
Bodin, Ulla
Textile Performance - The Knitting Academy
24
Hann, M.A.
Conceptual Developments in the Analysis of Patterns
Part One: The Identification of Fundamental
Geometrical Elements
32
Hann, M.A.
Conceptual Developments in the Analysis of Patterns
Part Two: The Application of the Principles of Symmetry
44
Melin, Linda
De interaktiva kuddarna
Textil som kommunikationsredskap
50
Huldt, Johan
Design! Design?
56
Studentprojects, The Swedish School of Textiles
Examensutställning 2003
70
Rea
86
KappAhl Award 2003
88
Påklädd utan sömmar
92
Möbelmässan 2003
94
University College of Borås
The Swedish School of Textiles, THS
SE-501 90 BORÅS
SWEDEN
Tel:
Fax:
E-mail
URL:
+46 33 16 41 64
+46 33 16 40 09
CTF@hb.se
http://www.hb.se/ths/ctf
Publisher
Tekn. Dr. Kenneth Tingsvik
Editor
Managing editor
Intendent Larsh Eriksson
Editorial advisors
Professor Ulla E:son Bodin
Professor Staffan Toll
Professor Lars Hallnäs
Professor Johan Huldt
Professor Hans Bertilsson
Professor Lise Bender Jörgensen
Graphic design
Intendent Larsh Eriksson
Publication
ISSN 1404-2487
Prepress and printing house
Etcetera Offset AB, Borås
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Textile Journal
The Nordic Textile journal collects and publishes articles of interest within the
fields of textile, design management, engineering and craft. Although the journal
is mainly for Nordic readership, many articles are published in English, in order
to feature new and interesting research outside the Nordic countries.
Articles should cover subjects of wide interest within and between the fields
mentioned above. They can also be summaries of lectures and seminars.
All material is subject to consideration by the editorial Board.
Subscription
The issues of the Journal are available free of charge.
Guidelines for authors
All papers must comply as follows:
Manuscripts
Headings, paragraphs, captions, italics etc must be absolutely clear. Articles
should be submitted on disc or by e-mail, clearly marked with the name(s) and
address of the author(s), indicating the title of the article, and the software
used. (MS Word or WordPerfect is preferred.)
An abstract should be provided for each article. The abstract precedes the
main text and draws attention to its salient points. Authors writing in Swedish
may, if they wish, include an abstract in English.
References should indicate the author's name, the name of the publication and
the year of publication.
The Nordic Textile Journal includes illustrations in four-colour printing. Authors
should therefore indicate which pictures are required in colour. These can be
submitted as slides, photos, or sent on a disk or e-mail, preferably in TIF or EPS.
Final decisions on colour illustrations to be included are taken by the editors.
For further information, please contact: The Nordic Textile Journal,
University College of Borås, The Textile Research Centre CTF/THS ,
SE-501 09 BORÅS, Sweden.
E-mail: CTF@hb.se, Fax: +46 33 16 40 09, Phone: +46 33 16 41 64
Textile Journal
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Aims
The CTF was founded in 1998 and is based at The Swedish School of
Textiles at the University College of Borås.
The aims of the Centre are:
To give a research profile to the unique combination of subjects within
the School.
To strengthen the research capabilities in the subject areas of the School:
crafts, design, textile- and design management and textile technology.
To build up and strengthen research within the School's educational programmes, to attract national and international expertise, thus meeting the
requirements of subject-specific professors and postgraduate programmes.
The Objectives of the CTF are:
To bring together all interested parties in crafts, design, textile- and design
management and textile technologyin order to create a Nordic centre for textile
research.
The Centre collects, assemble and process relevant information, to stimulate
research and make it available to all professional groups in the field of textiles.
Therefore, part of the Centre's reponsiblility is to arrange lectures, seminars and
conferences, and to report ongoing discussions and results of research in
publications and other media.
Areas of Interest and Research:
Design
"The development of innovative design with the help of modern technology giving
consideration to environmental, estetic, financial and ethical requirements".
Textile- and Design Management
Design management, fashion logistics
Crafts
Historic textiles
Textile Technology
Environmental technology, technical textiles, fibre technology
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The Research Board at the Swedisch School of Textiles
Chairperson:
Eva Selin Lindgren
Professor, University College of Borås
f3bselin@fy.chalmers.se
Members:
Kenneth Tingsvik
Tekn. Dr, Director, The Swedish School of
Textiles at the University College of Borås
kenneth.tingsvik@hb.se
Ulla E:son Bodin
Professor, The Swedish School of Textiles
at the University College of Borås
ulla.bodin@hb.se
Hans Bertilsson
hans.bertilsson@hb.se
Lise Bender Jörgensen
lise.bender@vm.ntnu.no
Lars Hallnäs
lars.hallnäs@hb.se
Johan Huldt
johan.huldt@hb.se
Staffan Toll
Professor, Chalmers Institute of Technology,
The Swedish School of Textiles at the University
College of Borås. toll@polymm.chalmers.se
Clemens Thornquist
Ph D student Representative,
The Swedish School of Textiles at the University
College of Borås. clemens.thornquist@hb.se
Larsh Eriksson
Intendent, The Swedish School of Textiles
larsh.eriksson@hb.se
Katrin Tijburg
Project administrator, The Swedish School of
katrin.tijburg@hb.se
Additional Members:
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Textile Research Council, CTF
The aim of the membership of the Textle Research Council was to create close
links within the field of textiles relevant to the work of the CTF. The first board
meeting was held on 31 August 1998.
Chairperson:
Kenneth Tingsvik
Tekn. Dr, Director, The Swedish School of
Textilhögskolan, Högskolan i Borås
kenneth.tingsvik@hb.se
Deputy:
Thommy Nilsson
MD, JC AB
thommy.nilsson@jc.se
Members:
Ingrid Giertz-Mårtensson
MD, Swedish Vision AB
igm@swedishvision.se
Gunilla Lagnesjö
Chief Textile Conservator, Studio of the Western
Sweden Conservators Trust,
Stiftelsen Västsvensk Konservatorsateljé
gunilla.lagnesjo@vgregion.se
Lisbeth Svengren
Ph Dr, Stockholm University,
Stockholms Universitet
lsv@fek.su.se
Sven Cele
MD, Swedish Textile & Clothing Industries
Association, Teko Industrierna
sven.cele@vi.se
Eva Selin Lindgren
Professor, University College of Borås
esl@adm2.hb.se, f3bselin@fy.chalmers.se
Eva Ohlsson
MD, The national Swedish handicraft Council,
Nämnden för Hemslöjdsfrågor
eva.ohlsson@nutek.se
Margareta Van Den Bosch
Chief of design, H&M
bosch@hm.com
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Additional Members:
Roger Johansson
Chalmers University of Technology,
Chalmers Tekniska Högskola
roger.johansson@adm.chalmers.se
Staffan Lööf
Vice, Rector, University College of Borås,
Högskolan i Borås
staffan.loof@hb.se
Lars Engman
Chief of design, IKEA of Sweden
legn@memo.ikea.se
Claes Frössén
Marketing Direktor, Stiftelsen Svensk
Industridesign
claes.frossen@svid.se
Clara Skoog-Åhlvik
MD, The Swedish Society of Craft and Design,
Föreningen Svensk form
clara.skoog_ahlvik@svenskform.se
Larsh Eriksson
Intendent, The Swedish School of Textiles
larsh.eriksson@hb.se
Katrin Tijburg
Project administrator, The Swedish School of
katrin.tijburg@hb.se
Boel Jansson
Student Representative, The Swedish School of
s014575@utb.hb.se
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Design for Sound Hiders
Lars Hallnäs
The Swedish School of Textiles
Department of Computing Science
Chalmers University of Technology
Margareta Zetterblom
1 Introduction – methodological background
…there is a story about a possible near future when it will be possible to hide
sounds like other things we usually hide, hide to get rid of, to keep secret etc.
– as long as we know where they are hidden we can find them, but it is our
choice…
We used this story as a conceptual background for a series of design experiments concerned with the expressions of textiles as sound absorbing and
sound reflecting material. The basic motivation for the experiments was twofold:
(i) to use conceptual design as a driving force in investigations of the expressiveness of given material,
(ii) to use material experiments as a basis for critical design.
Lars Hallnäs, professor in interaction design at
The Swedish School of Textiles, University
College of Borås and associate professor in
computing science at Chalmers University of
Technology.
Margareta Zetterblom, MA student in textile
design at The Swedish School of Textiles,
To investigate given material as design material, means, among other things, to
investigate the space spanned by the expressiveness of the material. Such
investigations can be guided by specific problems, expressed in terms of functionality; the problem of muffling noise in a given context, for example. But in
order to solve this type of problem, there is a need for more basic investigations, where we try to map out the design space in more general terms. (Cf.
[Braddock 1,2]). This type of investigation must necessarily be based on scientific knowledge about material, i.e. the physics, chemistry etc of the given
materials, but the investigations themselves are more phenomenological in
nature, i.e. understanding and describing the expressiveness of material with
respect to some given context of use. (Cf. [ Shaeffer]). The basic question is
then: how can we use this material in design praxis? This is a more direct
question than relying on art practice as the main source of knowledge about
the expressiveness of material. Experimental design can in this context be seen
as a counterpart to basic research in natural science. We need to set up experiments and “test” ideas about expressions and expressiveness.
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Such “test” ideas can be expressed in terms of a conceptual design, which so to speak gives us a context for the
experiments – which corresponds to the testing of a
hypothesis or a theory. Typically the conceptual design
sketches a context of use where the expressiveness of
the material is critical. Thus a general background story
may give a framework for a program of experimental
design with focus on the investigations of expressiveness
of some given materials. In the present case the purpose
was to investigate expressional properties of textile material as sound hiding material. It’s a world of its own… it’s
both a matter of fashion and functional design, in a sense.
We have to invent “sound” situations, test materials, listen,
listen…then name, describe and list specific properties.
Design for sound hiders is also a program for critical
design where we try to use design aesthetics to discuss
and analyse ideas about the future use of technology. (cf.
[Dunne1,2]). As we insist on using textiles as basic design
material we filter the idea of a possible technological future
through inherent expressiveness of a given design material.
Below we sketch a program for experimental design (Cf.
[Hallnäs]) with focus on investigating the expressiveness of
textiles as sound absorbing and sound reflecting material,
a program where we use conceptual design to map out a
fictitious design space and where investigations of materials give a foundation for critical design. Rather than just a
theoretical discussion on a such possible program we
choose the form of a series of museum installations to
describe and discuss basic ideas (*). This means that we
have done some experiments, some listening, some
reflections…but to develop the necessary descriptive tools
needed for the formulation of precise questions and systematic results there are lots and lots of further experiments
to be done.
2 Design for sound hiders
2.1 The stories
Sometimes you feel haunted by sounds, you more or less
desperately try to hide from them; you close the windows,
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you pull a thick woollen cap over your head, you put earplugs in your ears, you flee out into the woods, you install
triple-glazed windows… Now, suppose we should try to
hide the sound instead, collect it like water in a bucket
and put it where we want it…
Now, as we know, it is very difficult to collect sounds and
hide them, but we imagine a possible near future when
sensor technology and modern computational technology
makes it possible to catch and hide sound in an efficient
and simple manner. A near future when we may become
sound hiders.
In our installations we use this story to discuss and illustrate the aesthetics of sound hiding using textiles as a basic
design material, i.e. designing for sound hiders with textile
material.
We consider four scenarios, four examples of sound hiders:
1 Around
Radka is getting more and more tired of the noise constantly surrounding her in her city apartment. The traffic
noise is there almost all the time, people shouting in the
street…that’s enough to make the signals from the phone
or the door bell almost unbearable irritating…the radio, the
TV…
So we have devised a big box for her where she can hide
all the sounds surrounding her. She may place the box in
the middle of her living room and visit the sounds when
she feels up to it; now she rules the sounds. She only has
to press a button and all noise around here will disappear
into the box. The box has textile walls absorbing and
reflecting sounds in intricate patterns, the sounds bounce
around inside the box and are muffled as they are absorbed by the thick layers of textile material.
Installation: A scaffold triangle dressed with various textile
materials in several layers; solid reflecting material, soft,
thick, heavy absorbing material, rubber carpets etc. Inside the
triangle loud street noise comes from two studio monitors.
Textile material:
Side one: materials made of natural wool-fibres. One part
of the wall was made of several layers hanging over each
other made of knitted and tangled wool. The knitted woolmaterial was dyed yellow with special wool-pigment. The
second textile part of the wall was made of thick stamped
wool felt. The felt was dyed yellow and had a printed patttern made with pigment colour. Both these textiles were
sound absorbing.
Side two: the textiles on this side were made of rubber
conveyor belts. The belts were made of rubber principally
but had several included textile layers. These belts were
sound absorbing.
Side three: one of the textiles on this side was made of a
knitted polyester fabric in several layers. This knitted fabric
was sound absorbing. The other textile on this side was
made of different laminated materials originally made for
soles (of shoes). These laminated soles had a hard and
stiff surface witch implied sound reflection.
Textile material: The textiles in this installation were made
of wool- and synthetic felt. The textiles were circle-shaped
and used as lids. Each lid had a screen-print, printed with
puff-binder.
Each side of the scaffold triangle was also covered in
part by Plexiglas-frames laminated with a non-woven
polyester material.
Installation: A two meter high sheep-fence cylinder.
Inside the cylinder the are two loudspeakers. The cylinder
is covered with long woollen scarves that muffle the sound
coming out of the loudspeakers.
Sound material: Street noise recorded about 15 m
above ground. A mixture of very loud low frequency noise
from accelerating motor-cycles etc with high pitched clattter and a more or less constant background of almost
white noise.
Sound material: An amplified signal from a typical digital
alarm clock.
3 Round
Erik is very tired of all this nagging… can’t they just stop
nagging about going to bed early, washing this or that,
picking up clothes, plates etc from the floor and so on…
Finally he gives up, presses a button and collects the
sound that brings the nagging and put it under lock and
key. The sound passes through several filters that cleans it
from all its emotional charge and transforms it into some
sort of sound poetry. After a while he gets tired of this
poetry, wraps a long woollen scarf around it and goes on
with more important things in a nagging-free environment.
Textile material: long thin felt-stripes were winded many
times around a fence cylinder. The felt material was knitted
and dyed. Some felt-stripes were printed with pigment colour.
Sound material: An eight voice ”nagging”-canon.
2 Along
Me and my alarm clock… how could we learn to get
along in a civilized manner? I really don’t know. Waiting for
an answer to this question I hide its sound in a tube forgetting its intended functionality. It’s a sort of redesign
where hiding the wake up signal is in focus.
Installation: A two meter long fragment of an old ventilation shaft; at one end I put my alarm clock, at the other I
insert textile lids of various textures to muffle the sound of
the alarm clock.
4 Over
Cajsa, a stock broker, is by now very tired of all depresssing news about the stock market that comes out of her
TV. She collects it, and puts it under her favourite chair
which she covers with thick woollen cloth. She is sitting
there now waiting for better times to come.
Installation: A chair covered with woollen-cloth.
Under the seat of the chair there are two loudspeakers
directed upwards.
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Textile material: Knitted and tangled wool. Several layers
of wool-cloths make the sound from the chair softer.
Sound material: A mixture of several cut-up layers of
radio economy news.
3 The aesthetics of textile sound design – near field
design
To know the principal acoustics of a given textile material
is of course essential in textile sound design, but we also
need a phenomenological description of its expressiveness as a “sound design” material. If we say that that the
woollen-cloth covering Cajsa’s chair muffles the sound,
that doesn’t tell us much more than what is obvious
somehow. Pure acoustic facts about muffling properties
for low and high frequencies don’t help much either. What
is the character of the material with respect to sound
design in a given context? To answer this type of question
we may use the given conceptual context that guides the
experiments. In designing for Cajsa we might be looking
for material that is “dark”, “sombre” etc. The material we
need for Radka’s box should perhaps be “solid”, “calm”
and “open” etc. Other types of material for sound hiders
could be “secret”, “lying” etc. The conceptual context can
in this way provide a foundation for the phenomenological
descriptions that are basic in design practice.
Our experiments also constantly reminded us about two
“leitmotifs” that somehow seem intrinsic to textile sound
design:
(i) To look and to hear - the contrast between characteristics of visual and audible expressions is a very rich source for different strong design expressions; the light and
dark clothes, the absorbing and glittering textiles etc. The
true strength of these expressions always refers to a specific context that plays a basic role in defining the expresssional characteristics.
(ii) It’s a subtle matter - although we know as a matter of
principle how to accomplish very strong effects of sound
absorption and sound reflection, using textiles in various
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ways, the effects are in many situations of a much more
subtle nature. Small interesting effects; a fine structure of
sound characteristics. It is to a large extent a matter of
near-field design.
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4 References
[Braddock1] S. Braddock, M. O’Mahony, Techno Textiles –
Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design, Thames &
Hudson, 1998
[Braddock2] S. Braddock, M. O’Mahony, SportsTECH –
Revolutionary Fabrics, Fashion and Design, Thames &
Hudson, 2002
[Dunne1] A. Dunne, Hertzian Tales, Royal College of Art,
1999
[Dunne2] A. Dunne, F. Raby, Design Noir: The Secret Life
of Electronic Objects, Princeton Architectural Press, 2001
[Hallnäs] L. Hallnäs, L. Melin, J. Redström, A design research program for textiles and computational technology,
The Nordic Textile Journal 1/02, 2002
[Shaeffer] P. Schaeffer, Le Traité des Objets Musicaux,
Seuil, Paris, 1966
(*) Footnote
The project we report on here has been funded by
VINNOVA within the ePeople project, a project in the
VINNOVA program for user centred IT-development.
For help with material, equipment, stimulating discussions
etc we thank:
The Interactive Institute, PLAY studio
Students and teachers at the Swedish School of Textiles,
Borås Textile Museum
Ställningsbyggaren i Borås AB
Nordifa AB
Industri-Textil JOB AB
All Reklam
Capri
Zenit AB
Transportör & Gummiteknik AB
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Powers of Artistic Creation
Virpi Haavisto
Researcher / University of Art and Design Helsinki
Department of Industrial and Strategic Design
Graphic Designer / Avantage Ltd.
Liinasaarentie 3 B, FIN-02160 Espoo, Finland
Cell +358 50 5636 760, Fax + 358 9 4124 3101
Email virpi.haavisto@uiah.fi
Article prepared for the
Future Design Days
Organized by University College of Borås /
The Swedish School of Textiles,
The Textile Research Centre and Future Lab
Borås, Sweden
Keywords:
Act of creation, compassion, emotions, intuition, self-knowledge
It is with the heart that one sees rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince1
This paper is about artistically creative professionals from the viewpoint of emotions attached to the act of creation itself. First, I will try to skectch and share a
map of the emotional landscape of creative professionals. I try to enlight certain
feelings and emotional experiences faced in intensive work. Secondly, it will
speak about the vitality of emotional knowledge of creative professionals. These
two themes are not separate - they are highly intertwined, which is, I think, the
very soul and heart of the whole discussion about emotions and creative professionals. The content of this paper is based on my ongoing research2 in the
field of design research.
Intuitive Knowing and Rational Knowledge
Feelings and emotions, as well as reasoning and rationality, are inevitable parts
of what living and being human is. We may call our emotional life also as an
instinct life, or intuition. It is clear, that we need in our daily life both intuitive kno“On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:
Le Petit Prince.
2
Haavisto, 2003.
1
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wing and rational knowledge. Those are vital in living a
human life, surviving and living with others.
Rational knowledge refers to thinking mind and making
analysis based on intellectual knowledge. Intuition is about
immediate knowing. It is about making decisions, consciously or unconsciously, based on feelings and emotional knowledge. The emotional mind and the thinking mind
operate in harmony – for the most part. Sometimes, the
emotional mind just commands whatever the thinking mind
would have to say.
A Finnish musician Olli Mustonen3 explained in a fantasticly
simple way the difference between these two knowledge
types in relation to his composing work. When a piece of
music is ready and under his evaluation, he said that
sometimes it happens that although he is analysing the
composition to be truely correct and fine according to all
musical theories, he might just know that it would not
work. Although he cannot point out the parts of the composition which are invalid or poor, he just feels that the
whole piece would not work.
The case of Mustonen is truly familiar to designers as well
as design managers. Comparing to free artists, working in
independent basis, totally with their own inspiration, designers as well as architects and managers have to face
multiple limitations considering the piece of work itself. The
result of the creative process is not just a outcome or
burst of pure emotions. Many aesthetical, ethical, economical, manufactural, material, logistical and communicational issues have to be taken into account. This may be
seen as a challenge - and a trigger for creativity, inspiration
and imagination.
On the other hand, an other Finnish musician, Jarmo
Saari4, has put forward that he may sometimes consciously set limitations for himself while he is composing independently. He likes challenges. Saari said that it might be
easier to start composing and let inspiration wake up while
having for example just certain instruments, a subject, an
3
atmosphere and a duration, which is the case when he is
composing a commissioned piece of music. The natural
situation in independent work would be that he would have
all notes and tunes and instruments in the world available.
As we know, there are many ways of finding harmony between thinking and emotional mind. Always, the harmony
sets, in a way or another. Otherwise, there would not be
any outcome of the process.
Emotional Intelligence of Creators
The very strength of creative professionals is the firm emotional knowledge which stems from very well developed
self-awareness. Self-awareness refers to self-reflexive,
introspective attitude to one’s own experience, sometimes
called “mindfullness”5. According to many empirical studies, artistically creative persons are described to be more
sensitive to their own inner feelings and experiences than
average people are. Their intrapersonal talents are reported to be highly developed. This could be interpretated as
that an artist at work is very good at sensing his own feelings and emotional experiences.
The concept of intrapersonal talent belongs to Howard
Gardner’s famous theory of key intelligences including
eight types: verbal, mathematical-logical, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, naturalistical, interpersonal and intrapersonal.
The two last ones Gardner calls the personal intelligences
and describes them in a following way:
“Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand other
people: what motivates them, how they work, how to work
cooperatively with them. Successful salespeople, politicians, teachers, clinicians, and religious leaders are all likely
to be individuals with high degrees of interpersonal intelligence.
Intrapersonal intelligence ... is a correlative ability, turned
inward. It is a capacity to form an accurate, veridical model
of oneself and to be able to use that model to operate efficiently in life.”6
Mustonen, 2002. 4 Saari, 2000. 5 Goleman, 1996, 315,6 Gardner, 1983, 9.
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The intrapersonal skill is the key to self-knowledge.
According to Gardner, it is “access to one’s own feelings
and the ability to discriminate among them and draw upon
them to guide behaviour.”7
quantitatively measured very productive. Further, what is
interesting for practising designers and artists, Goleman
states that “being able to get into the “flow” state enables
outstanding performance of all kinds. People who have
this skill tend to be more highly productive and effective
whatever they undertake.”12 This may be called some sort
of emotional self-control.
Peter Salovey subsumes Gardner’s personal skills, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, in his original definition of emotional intelligence8. Salovey’s definition includes five domains: 1) knowing one’s emotions, 2) managing emotions, 3) motivating oneself, 4) recognizing emotions in others, and 5) handling relationships. The first
domain, knowing one’s emotions, refers to self-awareness. Person with strong self-awareness is more aware
and certain of his own feelings as they occur.
It is time to look, once again, the concept of emotional
intelligence introduced 1996 by Daniel Goleman which
includes “self-awareness and impulse control, persistence,
zeal and motivation, empathy and social deftness”.
Thinking the notions handled above, we might say that the
factors of emotional intelligence suit well to the picture of
an creator at his or her best. Emotional aptitude is a
‘meta-ability’. It determines how well we can use the other
skills we have - also the raw intellect.
David Goleman’s notion about Salovey’s third domain of
emotional intelligence, the motivating oneself, is highly
interesting in reference to the talents of designers and
artists in different areas: “marshaling emotions in the service of a goal is essential for paying attention, for self-motivation and mastery, and for creativity”9.
The Vital Circle of Creation
Creative process itself has an introspectative nature.
Artistic work itself offers to its practitioner a great possibility
for an introspection – a journey to understanding oneself.
The studies show that creative action strongly feeds the
self-knowledge of the actor. Feelings and emotional experiences faced in the process of creation shape the practitioner himself and his own emotional being. The actor
meets his own emotions in an intensive working process and
might then have an open pathway to his emotions, senses,
experiences, feelings, memories and desires. An established
Finnish painter Silja Rantanen puts this idea delicately:
The last two of Salovey’s domains of emotional intelligence,
which are recognizing emotions in others and handling relationships, refer to social competence and interpersonal abilities. The ability for emphaty builds on emotional self-awareness.
It is a very fundamental human skill. “People who are empathic
are more attuned to the subtle social signals that indicate what
others need or want. This makes them better at callings such
as the caring professions, teaching, sales, and management.”10 Artistically creative persons are also often more devoted and sensitive to the social and natural environments
around them than average people are. Fruits of this knowledge
may concretely appear in relationships to other people as well
as in the work of artistically creative practitioners, as pieces of
art or good design. People who excel in interpersonal skills “do
well at anything that relies on interaction smoothly with others;
they are social stars” as Goleman11 elegantly puts it.
Creating individuals with good self-awareness excel both
in quality and quantity. Those masters of creation who create high-quality outcomes, products and objects, are also
7
Ibid. 8 Salovey, 1990, 189. 9 Goleman, 1996, 93.
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10
Ibid., 43.
11
Ibid., 43-44.
“When one concentrates to one’s motive one is all autistic
or wrapped up in oneself. But one does not observe oneself. One does not pose at all. At the time one is though
most in oneself. [...] In work I have many times, already as
young, thought how contradictory the situation is when
people who know me well can never be together with me
when I create. Although, just in that moment I am the most
myself and the most entire me. [...] It is very satisfying to
be oneself, tirelessly.”13
12
Ibid., 43.
Creative work can carry a therapeutical function for the
practitioner himself, as also to the spectators. Creative
work is in many ways extraordinarily rewarding not less in
a way of letting its practitioner to understand oneself better. A very skilled Finnish conductor and composer EsaPekka Salonen has said this focal idea of this paper in a
straightforward way: “If somebody would ask me which are
the best moments in life [...] Those would be the moments
when I do understand something about myself”14.
We may now sketch a shape of a dynamic circle around
the facts stated above. The facts that 1) creatively talented
persons are emotionally sensitive and highly intrapersonally
developed, 2) that creative action feeds creator’s selfknowledge, 3) that self-knowledge feeds further other
emotional skills, especially empathic skills, and 4) that
people with good self-awareness are productive and excel
both in quality and quantity, may seen as a positively
supportive dynamic circle of creative actions.
The messages of outcomes of this primary circle of creation
can be reached, seen and heard, by other people. These
are emotional messages which observers are interpreting in
their individual ways. Always, the messages communicate
feelings which awake the observer to resonate emotionally –
feel, experience or memorize – and so further know better
himself, and also grow in the knowledge of empathy.
Yrjö Hirn writes in his classic of aestehics15 that it is the
emotional mental state which distinguishes artistical creation from practical and theoretical activities. He sets his
appropriate definition of the concept of aesthetical creation
in a following way:
“A piece of art or an artistical expression is a product of an
activity with which an emotional mental state has got a
complete and universal expression in an external form or
figure which makes free and disinterested observation
possible, and which in stead of the agitating and embarrasing impressions of non-aesthetical life awakes a pure
contemplative pleasure in the observer.”16
Emotional mental state is getting fullfilled in aesthetical production and awakes pure contemplative feeling of pleasure
in a spectator. In the best case, a piece of creation may
get the observer himself to concretely create something
which may be a though, a feeling, a gesture or a decision.
Pieces of creation are as fairytales, emotional visions of
the world, which feed emotional skills as empathy of the
listener. Creative practitioners have a vital role in today’s
society not only workers of aesthetical and ethical qualities
but also as workers of emotions. In this time of indifference
and segregation the emotional knowledge, especially the
ability for empathy, is vital to sustain our human life human.
Dances Between Emotions
Accoding to my research with creative professionals from
various areas of art17, there are some basic feelings and
emotional experiences which arise up in an intensive working process. These feelings are dynamic and change all
the time in the process of working. One pattern is common to these feelings: The opposite feelings and emotional experiences change as they would be dancing with
and between each other.
13
Haavisto, 2000, 93-94: “När man koncentrerar sig på sitt motiv är man helt autistisk eller insluten i sig själv och man är helt utlämnad åt sig själv, men
man bryr sig inte om sig själv. Man poserar inte ett dugg. Samtidigt är man ändå som mest inne i sig själv. [...] I själva verket har jag många gånger
redan som alldeles ung funderat på hur motstridigt det är att även de människor som känner mig väl aldrig kan vara ett med mig då jag skapar, trots att
jag just i det ögonblicket är som mest mig själv och mest fullständig. [...] Det är ju mycket tillfredsställande att vara sig själv, restlöst.”
14
Salonen, 2002.
15
Hirn, 1913.
16
Ibid., 106: “Ett konstverk eller en konstyttring är en produkt af en verksamhet, genom hvilken ett mänskligt själstillstånd af utprägladt känslobetonad
karaktär blifvit fullt och helt uttryckt i en yttre form eller gestalt, som möjliggör en fri och “intresselös” betraktelse, och som därmed, i stället för det utomestetiska lifvets upprörande eller förvirrande intryck, bjuder åt betraktaren en rent kontemplativ lustförnimmelse”.
17
Haavisto, 2003.
Textile Journal
21
Dances between emotional experiences are taking place
in following pairs: confidence and inconfidence to oneself,
certainty and uncertainty of decisions, feeling of security
and insecurity, euforia and fear, feeling oneself fragile and
strong, feeling of consciousness and unconsciousness,
solitudeness and togetherness, love and hate, clearness
of thought and polyphony of ideas. I will not go deeper in
these feelings in this paper. The meaning of opening up
the range of the feelings here is to show how basic
human feelings and emotions are closely attached to
intensive creative processes.
The ability to create needs multiple skills, but the most vital
ones are, firstly, to be able to get inspired, and secondly,
to get oneself to accomplish an outcome. To excel in
these two points of work one need emotional self-control,
a firm self-knowledge and emphatic skills. The power of
emotions is huge whether we investigate the excellence in
the area of creation – or life in general. Emotional qualities
are exceedingly central and should be taken in consideration in many areas of research in human sciences – as
well as in everyday business and private life – not uniquely
in the area of design.
Creator’s Wisdom?
The final question is: Does the wisdom, and the very
power, of creators lay in emotional skills, in the self-awareness and in the ability for emphaty?
Why do artistically creative practitioners actually do what
they do for living? Naturally, there is an indefinite number of
reasons; chance, interest, talents, heritage or culture.
Creative work could be seen very rewarding as a professsion from the perspective of emotional development of an
individual. But now a question: May feelings and emotions
experienced in intensive work and the emotional wellbeing gained though self-awareness be the inner driving
forces to create - the powers of creation?
What we can learn about this all? To keep oneself fit to
work in a chosen profession means to an creative professional to keep oneself able to create. The real master of
creative act is like a virtuosical player who can play his
emotional knowledges as a good instrument - and tune it
for the music at the time, under play.
Inspiration, which may as a word suffer from serious inflation, is not a moment or mental state to be waited for by
professional creators, but a thing to be created to grow. A
diletant is waiting for inspiration, but a professional does
not wait – he creates the inspiration. It will say that the
ability to keep oneself capable to create, having the power
of creation, is an essential part of creative craftmanship, a
professional skill. A creator would not be a professional
creator if he would lack all control over his creative abilities.
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Textile Journal
Virpi Haavisto (b. 1967) lectures at the University of Art and
Design Helsinki, Department of Industrial and Strategic
Design. Her phenomenologically oriented research on the
feelings and experiences of artistically creative professionals at work has been met with considerable interest, as it
relies strongly both on empirics and philosophy - and is still
firmly down-to-earth in the core of the subject matter of
design. Virpi Haavisto is also a practising graphic designer
and a director in her own design agency, Avantage Ltd.
Referenses
Gardner Howard, 1983, Frames of Mind: The Theory of
Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
Goleman Daniel, 1996, Emotional Intelligence. Why it Can
matter More than IQ. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Haavisto Virpi, 1999, Jag finns ju knappast till. Silja
Rantanen. Dokument av en utopi. Ed. Lena Boëthius.
Göteborg: Göteborg Museum of Art. pp. 78-96.
Haavisto Virpi, 2003, The Moment of Creation – Feelings
and Emotional Experiences of Artistically Creative
Professionals in Work. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Art and Design Helsinki.
Hirn Yrjö, 1913, Det estetiska lifvet. Helsingfors:
Söderström & C:o Förlagsaktiebolag.
Mustonen Olli, 2002, Interview in a television document:
‘Mistä muusat tulevat?’ TV1, Finland, 7.11.2002.
Saari Jarmo, 2000, Lecture, Course ‘Moment of Creation The Philosophy of Form Giving’, Organized by Virpi
Haavisto, University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland,
25.9.2000.
Salonen Esa-Pekka, 2002, Lecture, ‘Meet the Artist’,
Musica Nova -Festival, Finlandia-hall, Helsinki, 7.3.2002.
Salovey Peter, Mayer John D., Emotional Intelligence.
Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9(1990).
Textile Journal
23
Textile Performance
The Knitting Academy
The Knitting Acdemy was initiated in 1998 as a cooperative project between
the Swedish School at the University College of Borås and the Institution of
Design and Crafts at Gothenburg University. The project is headed by the
University College of Borås and is run as a pilot project financed during
its first two years by the KK foundation, Föreningssparbanken Sjuhärad, the
region of Västra Götaland, the municipality of Mark and the En Hel Del
project at the institution of Design and Crafts at Gothenburg University.
There has always been a demand from students and trained designers to have
recourse to an experimental workshop in order to test and develop knitted
fabric designs and to have the possibility to produce small collections.
The Swedish knitting industry consists of several smaller companies with
limited resources in terms of product development and marketing. Cooperative
efforts between the industry and academy gains both parties.
The project started out in the village Sätila, in a former knitting factory,
where a knitting technician was at hand to develop ideas and further
development. Some 60 projects were initiated during this period. In October
2001, the cooperation with the knitting companies of Gällstad, gathered in
the Gällstad group, started out, resulting in considerable growth based on
the richness of the groups' collected knowledge.
The Swedish School of Textiles disposes of highly advanced machinery within
the knitting field and offers educational courses in cooperation with other
design schools, such as the Institution of Design and Crafts at Gothenburg
University, Konstfack and Beckmans School of Design in Stockholm.
Applicants to the Knitting Academy should possess knowledge in knitting techniques. This means that the Knitting Academy is able to offer placements to
students from the mentioned schools.
The projects is led by a group consisting of representatives from the
Swedish School of Textiles, the Gällstad Group, Beckmans School of Design
and the municipality of Ulricehamn.
Professor Ulla Eson Bodin
Artisc Director at the Swedish School of
Textiles and the Knitting Academy
University College, Borås, Sweden
Several projects have been Bachelors and Masters degree projects. Following
graduation, students are able to go back and continue working on their ideas
in order to find partners within the knitting industry.
Photo Christer Månsson, Studion
Textile Journal
25
Design: Karin Landahl
Design: Lena Almström
Design: Lotta Lundstedt
Design: Anna Lena Emden
Design: Ann Terese Helgesson
Design: Jennie Blomkvist
On June 12, 2003 the Knitting Academy presented a
fashion performance in one of the large machine halls at
the Royal School of Technology, Stockholm. The object of
this performance was to put young textile knitting design in
a border-breaking artistic context. Student projects from all
Swedish design schools were represented: the Institution
of Design and Crafts at Gothenburg University. Konstfack,
Beckmans School of Design and the Swedish School of
Textiles. Carin Bartosch-Edström is the composer of the
music. The piece was originally performed at the student
show by the Swedish School of Textiles at the opening of
the Tutanchamon show at the Textile Museum in Borås in
1999. The music was composed for this event and suppported by the Royal Academy of music.
For the Knitting Academy performance, the piece has
been developed by Paulina Sundin, electro-acoustic composer. It was performed together with live music in the
machine hall in an alternating sequence to voices by Carin
Bartosch-Edström and double-flute by Claudia Müller. In
order to obtain perfect sound reproduction, acoustic
maestro Jamie Fawcus was called in.
The programme was directed by means of pre-planned
video, shown in back projection at a screen of 5 x 6 metres.
Dancers and models dressed in the students' creations
were synchronised with video clips from knitting machine
halls and industrial facilities. Through cooperation with two
talented pupils at the the Viskatrand High School in Borås,
Ida Johansson and Nina Ståhl, video filing and editing has
been carried out. The pupils have spent long hours in the
editing room in order to obtain the desired result.
With the video as a starting point, choreographer and dancer Claire Parson, together with a company of six, performed a piece of highly personal character where movements, bodies and clothes formed a unit. The dancers
interpreted and expressed the clothes through their movements and offered the beholders a total experience.
Young models from the ZAP agency relieved the dancers
alternatively. A certain flexibility and variation were important elements in the performance, and the clothes were
30
Textile Journal
shown in various ways. Theresia Schults, mask artist from
Folkoperan in Stockholm and her assistant contributed
with most personal make-ups. The object of this performance has been to create a scenic and acoustic experience, in which young designers are to gain the possibility
to contribute on equal terms. By cooperation with young
artists within music and dance in this way, working within a
border-breaking artistic cultural context, place is given to
new textile- and fashion design expressions.
The Knitting Academy was nominated to take part in the
competition "Best collaboration in culture and trade/industry 2003" organised by The Association of Culture and
Economic Industry in Stockholm, Sweden. On November
24, the Knitting Academy was awarded second prize and
received an honourable mention. The motivation was: "An
experimental workshop and meeting place to develop new
Swedish knitting design composes an exciting example by
a cross-border project to launch design in an innovative
way using music, dance and art to reach new target groups."
Textile Journal
31
Conceptual Developments in the Analysis of
Patterns
Part One: The Identification of Fundamental
Geometrical Elements
by
M.A. Hann,
School of Design,
University of Leeds, UK
texmah@west-01.novell.leeds.ac.uk
Abstract
The fundamental geometrical aspects of motifs and patterns are identified, and
a systematic means by which textile and other surface patterns may be classified with respect to the symmetry characteristics of their underlying structures is
explained and illustrated.
Professor M. A. Hann holds the Chair of
Design Theory at the University of Leeds,
where he has been based for over twenty
years. He is Director of the University of Leeds
International Textiles Archive, and was recently
appointed to the position of Pro-dean for
Research in the newly-formed Faculty of
Performance, Visual Arts and
Communications. He currently teaches
courses on the Geometry of Pattern, Design
Theory, and Ethnographic Textiles. He has
published widely in many textile-related areas,
has supervised over fifty postgraduate projects,
including eight PhDs,and is an acknowledged
authority in the area of design geometry.
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Textile Journal
1. Introduction
For much of the twentieth century design historians and theorists, as well as
anthropologists and archaeologists, restricted their studies of patterns on decorated objects (including textiles) to broad ranging subjective commentary and
superficial analysis; cross-cultural considerations and comparisons were hindered generally by the apparent lack of awareness of a procedure to systematically classify two-dimensional designs in a way which was both meaningful and
reproducible. A conceptual framework for the objective classification of twodimensional designs had however developed, from around the 1930s, due to
the efforts of several key researchers. An important early contribution was
made by H. J. Woods, a physicist working in the Textile Department of the
University of Leeds. During the 1930s a remarkable series of papers, authored
by Woods, was published in the Journal of the Textile Institute (Woods, 1935,
1936). Drawing on concepts which have their origin in the study of crystals,
Woods presented a comprehensive appraisal of symmetry in patterns. In fact,
Woods was the first to present the complete and explicit enumeration of the
two-colour, one- and two-dimensional patterns (i.e. two colour counter-change
border and all-over patterns). This visionary work was several years ahead conceptually of the theoretical developments emanating from crystallographers
worldwide. Today, it is widely acknowledged that Woods helped to lay the
foundation for our current thinking on the geometrical characteristics of regular
repeating patterns and tilings (Washburn and Crowe, 1989). The development
of the conceptual framework initiated by Woods was furthered by a range of
interested scholars including Stevens (1984), Washburn and Crowe (1989),
Schattschneider (1990) and Hann and Thomson (1992). The work completed
by Horne, during time spent as a PhD student at the
University of Leeds, is also worth a mention (Horne,
2000). Grunbaum and Shephard (1987), in their monumental mathematical treatise Tilings and Patterns, charted
much of what is currently known mathematically about the
subject of tilings. A review of relevant literature, dealing
with the evolution of the basic mathematical thinking on
the subject, as well as the application of the principles of
geometrical symmetry to the analysis of patterns, was
made by Hann and Thomson (1992). The work of
Washburn and Crowe (1989) is of particular importance in
this latter subject area.
With the above considerations in mind the intention of this
paper is to present a fresh explanation of symmetry in
pattern, with the objective of stimulating design analysts in
their quest to analyse patterns.
Rotation is repetition at regular intervals round an imaginary
centre of rotation. Rotations are identified as divisions of
360 degrees. Motifs can exhibit rotation, as can border
and all-over patterns. In the case of patterns certain
restrictions apply. It is worth noting at this stage that only
rotations of orders two-, three-, four, and six-fold (corresponding to 180 degrees, 120 degrees, 90 degrees and
60 degrees) are possible in the construction of all-over
patterns. A schematic figure with two-fold rotation is
shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Two-fold Rotation
2. Fundamental Principles
When considering patterns from a geometrical viewpoint,
the term “symmetry” is generally introduced. All motifs and
patterns may be classified with respect to their symmetry
characteristics. Symmetry is an all encompassing term
that embraces four fundamental geometrical actions or
symmetry operations and their combinations. These four
symmetry operations are translation, rotation, reflection
and glide reflection. Each is explained below.
Translation, the simplest symmetry operation, is the repetition
either vertically, horizontally or diagonally of a figure or motif
at regular intervals while retaining exactly the same orientation (Figure 1). An important characteristic of translation
is that there is no change in orientation of the motif.
Translation in one consistent direction results in a border
pattern and if carried out in two independent directions across
the plane results in the construction of an all-over pattern.
Reflection is when repetition occurs across an imaginary
straight line (known as a reflection axis) producing a mirror
image. Reflection can be a characteristic of motifs, border
patterns and all-over patterns. A schematic figure with bilateral reflection is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 1: Trabslation
Figure 3: Bilateral reflection
Textile Journal
33
Glide reflection is when a motif or figure is repeated
through a combination of both translation and reflection in
association with a glide-reflection axis. A frequently cited
example in explanatory texts is the impression created by
foot prints on wet sand (Figure 4).
tuent part) thus rotates n times round a centre of rotation,
or by successive rotations of 360/n degrees about a fixed
point. Schematic illustrations of c1, c2 and c3 motifs are
given in Figure 6.
Figure 4: Footprints in Wet Sand
Figure 6: Shematic Examples of en Motifs
A relevant schematic illustration is provided in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Glide-reflection
Motifs of category dn are characterised by the presence
of one or more reflection axis. Where more than one
reflection axis is present and thus intersecting through the
centre of the motif, rotation is generated. Intersecting
reflection axes thus create rotation. Class dn motifs have
n-fold rotational symmetry combined with n reflection axes.
A relevant schematic illustration, showing d1, d2 and d4
motifs is provided in Figure 7.
Figure 7: Shematic Examples of dn Motifs
3. Motifs
Motifs are the fundamental building blocks of all patterns.
Alternative terms include finite figures, bounded figures or
point groups. Certain motifs are asymmetrical and do not
therefore exhibit any of the four symmetry operations.
Symmetrical motifs do not exhibit translation or glide
reflection, but may exhibit rotation and/or reflection.
A convenient means of classification designates symmetrical motifs into one of two categories: cn or dn. A class cn
motif is said to have n-fold rotational symmetry about a
fixed point. A fundamental unit (that is, the smallest consti34
Textile Journal
4. Border Patterns
Border patterns exhibit translation of a motif at regular
intervals in one direction only, as if trapped between two
imaginary parallel lines. Alternative terms include band,
strip, frieze or one-dimensional patterns. When the four
symmetry operations are combined a total of seven possible classes of border patterns result.
The notation conventionally ascribed to border patterns is
of the form pxyz. The letter p prefaces each of the seven.
The letter x is the symbol which denotes
symmetry operations perpendicular to the longitudinal axis
of the border; m is used where vertical reflection is present, or the number 1 where the operation is absent. The
third symbol, y, denotes symmetry operations working
parallel to the sides of the border; the letter m is used if
longitudinal reflection is present, the letter a if glide reflection is present or the number 1 if neither is present. The
fourth symbol, z, denotes the presence of two-fold rotation; the number 2 is used if rotation is present and the
number 1 if rotation is not present. Each of the seven
classes of border patterns is illustrated schematically in
Figure 8, together with the relevant four-symbol notation.
Class p111 patterns exhibit translation only. In addition to
translation, class p1a1 exhibits glide reflection, class
pm11 vertical reflection, class p1m1 horizontal reflection,
class p112 two-fold rotation, class pma2 vertical reflection, two-fold rotation and glide reflection, and class pmm2
horizontal and vertical reflection and two-fold rotation.
Figure 8: Illustration of the Seven Classes of Border Patterns
Textile Journal
35
Figure 9: Examples of the Seven Classes of Border Patterns
Figure 9 provides further examples of
each of the seven classes.
Figure 10: Flow diagram to Aid the Identification of a Border Pattern´s Symmetry Class
The flow diagram provided in Figure
10 should be of value in identifying a
border pattern’s symmetry class.
Textile Journal
37
5. All-over Patterns
All-over patterns are characterised by
translation in two independent directions across the plane. Alternative
terms include wallpaper designs,
two-dimensional patterns, and periodic patterns. These designs employ
a further structural element: one of
five distinct lattice structures (known
as “Bravais lattices”, explained elsewhere by Schattschneider, 1978).
Combinations of the four symmetry
operations, in association with these
lattice structures, will yield seventeen
possibilities. Associated with these
seventeen classes is a four figure
notation, which identifies the highest
order of rotation within the pattern
together with the presence (or
absence) of glide-reflection and/or
reflection. A full explanation of this
internationally accepted notation is
given elsewhere by Washburn and
Crowe (1988). Schematic illustrations
of all seventeen classes are given in
Figure 11.
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Textile Journal
Figure 11: Illustrations of the Seventeen All-over Pattern Classes
Figure 12: Examples of All-over Pattern Without Rotation
Figure 13: Examples of All-over Pattern With Two-fold Rotation
Further illustrative examples are given
in Figures 12 to 16.
Figure 14: Examples of All-over Pattern With Three-fold Rotation
Figure 15: Examples of All-over Pattern With Four-fold Rotation
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Textile Journal
Figure 16: Examples of All-over Pattern With Six-fold Rotation
Textile Journal
41
Figure 17: Flow Diagram to aid the Identification of an All-over Pattern´s Symmetry Class
Figure 17 should prove to be of value
in identifying an all-over pattern’s
symmetry class.
6. In Conclusion
This paper presents a concise summary of the more
important concepts deemed by the author to be of value
in the structural analysis of patterns. The basic symmetry
operations were explained, and the symmetry characteristics of motifs, border patterns and all-over patterns were
identified. An objective, systematic, and reproducible
means by which textiles and other surface patterns can be
classified by reference to their symmetry characteristics
has thus been developed. The potential of the system as
a worthwhile analytical tool is explored in part two of this paper.
References
Hann, M. A. and Thomson, G. M., 1992, The Geometry
of Regular Repeating Patterns, The Textile Institute,
Manchester.
Horne, C.E., 2000, Geometric Symmetry in Patterns and
Tilings, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge.
Schattschneider, D., 1990, Visions of Symmetry.
Notebooks, Periodic Drawings and Related Works of
M. C. Escher, Freeman, New York.
Stevens, P. S., 1981, Handbook of Regular Patterns.
An Introduction to Symmetry in Two Dimensions,
MIT Press, 1981.
Washburn, D. K. and Crowe, D. W., 1989, Symmetries of
Culture: Theory and Practice of Plane Pattern Analysis,
University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Woods, H.J., 1935, “The Geometrical Basis of Pattern
Design. Part 1: Point and Line Symmetry ion Simple
Figures and Borders”, Journal of the Textile Institute.
Transactions, 26, T197-T210.
Design. Part 2: Nets and Sateens”, Journal of the Textile
Institute. Transactions, 26,T293-T308.
Design. Part 3: Geometrical Symmetry in Plane Patterns”,
Journal of the Textile Institute. Transactions, 26, T341-T357.
Design. Part 4: Counterchange Symmetry in Plane
Patterns”, Journal of the Textile Institute. Transactions, 27,
T305-T320.
Textile Journal
43
Conceptual Developments in the Analysis of
Patterns
Part Two: The Application of the Principles of
Symmetry
by
M.A. Hann,
School of Design,
University of Leeds, UK
texmah@west-01.novell.leeds.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper reviews the more important literature concerned with pattern analysis, and appraises the application of the systematic classification system outlined in part one. It is apparent from the literature that when a representative
selection of patterns from a given cultural setting is classified in terms of symmmetry characteristics, a non- random distribution of symmetry preferences
results, indicating that symmetry is a culturally sensitive parameter.
1. Introduction
Part one of this paper presented a summary of the more important geometrical
concepts deemed to be of importance in the classification of motifs, border
patterns and all-over patterns. The basic symmetry operations of translation,
rotation, reflection and glide reflection were seen to combine to provide seven
classes of border patterns and seventeen classes of all-over patterns. Flow
diagrams to aid identification of a pattern’s symmetry class were provided. The
objective of the second part of the paper is to present an appraisal of symmetry classification as an analytical tool in the analysis of patterns from different
cultural settings and historical periods.
Professor M. A. Hann holds the Chair of
Design Theory at the University of Leeds,
where he has been based for over twenty
years. He is Director of the University of Leeds
International Textiles Archive, and was recently
appointed to the position of Pro-dean for
Research in the newly-formed Faculty of
Performance, Visual Arts and
Communications. He currently teaches
courses on the Geometry of Pattern, Design
Theory, and Ethnographic Textiles. He has
published widely in many textile-related areas,
has supervised over fifty postgraduate projects,
including eight PhDs,and is an acknowledged
authority in the area of design geometry.
44
Textile Journal
2. The Role of Geometry in the Study of Pattern: Historic Precedents.
Although it has long been recognised that geometry plays an important role in
the underlying structure of pattern, this recognition has generally manifested
itself in practice rather than theory. On a few occasions where an identification
of the geometrical principles governing patterns was evident in the design literature of the late 1800s and early 1900s, this was often from the perspective of
pattern synthesis (i.e. the construction of patterns) rather than from the perspective of pattern analysis (i.e. the determination of the source, function, symbolism or other cultural parameters as well as structure). The majority of design
publications were thus aimed at the design practitioner and not the design analyst. Meyer, for example, in the introduction to his handbook, stated his intentions when he declared that his handbook was:
the purpose of both analysis and synthesis, by reference
to their geometrical structures. As indicated in the
Introduction to part one of this paper, another perspective
of pattern analysis and classification evolved: the consideration of patterns by reference to their symmetry characteristics, a perspective which has its origin in the scientific
investigation of crystals.
“... based on a system which is synthetic rather than analytic and intended more to construct and develop...than to
dissect and deduce” (Meyer, 1894).
It is none the less interesting to note that Meyer grouped
designs according to their spatial characteristics into ribbbon-like bands, enclosed spaces or unlimited flat patterns
corresponding to border patterns, motifs and all-over pattterns respectively (Meyer, 1894, p3). In addition, Meyer
recognised that the foundation of every form of all-over
pattern was a “...certain division, a subsidiary construction
or a network” (Meyer, 1894, p3). He thus anticipated the
use of the term nets (used for example by Woods, part 1,
1935) to refer to the skeletal grids (or lattices) underlying
the structure of all-over patterns, a phenomenon explained
elsewhere (see for example Hann and Thomson).
3. The Development of Symmetry as an Analytical Tool
In order that the study of surface decoration can be conducted systematically, the use of explicitly defined units
would appear to be a necessary pre-requisite. Precise
tools of classification enable hypothesis formation and theory testing. Symmetry classification, as outlined in part one
of this paper, is such a tool.
Although not adopting the terminology and theoretical perspectives being developed by crystallographers at the
time, certain late nineteenth and early twentieth century
observers none the less exhibited an astute awareness of
the underlying geometrical principles fundamental to the
construction of all-over patterns. Other non-mathematical
sources acknowledged the importance of grid structures
in the construction of patterns. Stephenson and Suddards
(1897, chps. 2-5), for example, in their appraisal of the
geometry of Jacquard woven patterns, illustrated patterns
with constructions based on rectangular, rhombic, hexagonal and square lattices. Similarly, Day (1903, chps 2-6)
placed much emphasis on the geometrical basis of all
two-dimensional design and illustrated the construction of
all-over patterns on square, parallelogram, rhombic and
hexagonal type lattices. In 1910, Christie (1969 ed.,
chp.9) rationalised all-over patterns, including many textile
patterns, into two main types: those which were comprised of isolated units (spot-like effects, where the background totally surrounds each individual motif) and those
which were comprised of continuous units (where motifs
are repeated to form a continuous mass). Through further
sub-division, Christie (1969ed, p59) gave numerous
examples of how all-over patterns could be developed by
the practitioner. Christie’s work is of importance for it
represents a first stage in the categorisation of patterns for
Brainerd (1942) was seemingly the first archaeological
investigator to use symmetry classification as an analytical
tool and, in so doing, provided a penetrating insight into its
potential value in cross-cultural analysis and comparisons
of decorated objects. Using prehistoric pottery as a data
source of motifs and patterns, Brainerd conducted an
analysis of the symmetry characteristics exhibited by fragments from two distinct archaeological sites. Two principal
observations resulted from his study. First, Brainerd found
that different types of symmetry predominated in each of
the two groups of pottery, and that symmetry exhibited by
one group of designs was more diverse than that exhibited by the other group of designs. In retrospect, these findings may not seem to be startling, but the method of
obtaining data (i.e. through recording the symmetry characteristics of a given group of designs) demonstrated that
an objective comparison could be made between designs
originating from different cultural settings. Second,
Brainerd implied that within a given cultural setting there
will be a preferred symmetry or symmetries used to decorate objects and while such symmetry arrangements may
not necessarily be named or even recognised consciously
by the people using them, they will none the less be followed exactingly.
Although Brainerd’s work was published in 1942, in one of
the most popular North American archaeological journals,
Textile Journal
45
a more widespread acceptance of symmetry classification
was not forthcoming for several decades. Exceptions
include Muller’s study of symmetry in the tiling patterns of
the Alhambra Palace, in Granada, Spain (Muller, 1944).
Shepard (1948) explored the potential of symmetry as an
analytical tool to the archaeologist and illustrated different
classes of motifs and border patterns with examples from
the American Southwest. She outlined the nature of a variety of problems (e.g. faulty draughtsmanship or the combination of different symmetries in complex designs) which
may be encountered by the analyst and highlighted the
tendency for certain symmetries to predominate within a
given cultural context. In addition she remarked on how
cultural change (brought about particularly by the adoption
of cultural traits from another culture) may be pinpointed
by symmetry analysis, subject to the availability of a representative time series of data. Subsequent to these pioneering studies, a number of investigators set out to classify
and compare patterns on decorated objects from specific
cultural settings. The work of Crowe (1971, 1975, and
1982), Zaslow and Dittert (1977), the Aschers (1981), Van
Esterik (1979), Kent (1983), Washburn (1977, 1983, and
1986), Campbell (1989) and Hann (1992) are of importance in advancing the subject.
An important result from much of the empirical literature
listed above is that when a representative sample of pattterns from a defined cultural context or historical period is
classified by reference to symmetry characteristics, a non
random distribution of symmetry classes results. This nonrandomness is of fundamental significance to anthropologists, archaeologists and design historians for it demonstrates that design structure, assessed in terms of symmmetry characteristics, is in some way cultural sensitive and
as such may prove of use as an indicator of cultural adherence, continuity and change.
4. An Appraisal of the Potential of Symmetry Classification
For many years anthropologists have focused upon understanding culture as a series of inter-related subsystems
bound together by a series of organisational rules (e.g.
laws, values, attitudes and habits) developed by partici46
Textile Journal
pants in order that their society can be maintained and
perpetuated. Typical examples of subsystems include the
economy, religious practices, language, music and the
decorative arts. Observers have maintained that the conception, execution and function of the decorative arts of
any culture can be considered to be as integral to the
growth and maintenance of that culture as any other subsystem (Washburn, 1977, p5). Following from this, it
appears that much of the relevant anthropological literature
assumes firstly that the same organisational rules permeate through the many subsystems of a given culture;
second, that these organisational rules are some how
manifested in the structural characteristics of the culture’s
decorative arts; third, that continuities and/or changes in
any one subsystem are reflected in all other subsystems
(including the decorative arts) due to changes in the organisational rules applicable to the culture in general. Based
on these assumptions, a number of investigators have
attempted to relate the structural characteristics (but not
the full spectrum of symmetry characteristics) of the decorative arts with other aspects of culture. A selection of
these is identified below.
Adams (1973) attempted to relate the organisational principles of Sumba textile design to certain other activities such
as marriage exchange, ritualistic practices, and structure
of ceremonial language. A study by El-Said and Parman
(1976) attempted to relate the geometry of Islamic tilings
to aspects of Islamic cosmology. Kaeppler (1978) found
structural relationships between Tongan music and bark
cloth design and maintained that these were manifestations of wider societal characteristics. Arnold (1983), in a
study conducted among the residents of Quinua (Peru),
found a relationship between decoration on textiles and
the principles governing the spatial organisation expressed
in ritual and religion. While these studies may well be
worthwhile in their own right, in that they have contributed
to advances in the understanding of specific cultures, it
should be stressed, however, that clearly defined rules of
universally applicable methodology have failed to emerge.
In addition, the relationship between the decorative arts
and other subsystems never seems to be specified in a
way which can lend itself to general application in cultures
other than that which was the focus of attention in the
relevant study.
The apparent importance of the decorative arts as an
integral component of all cultures should not, however, be
underestimated. This was recognised by Alland for example, when he stated that the art of any society is, “...an
emotionally charged and culturally centred storage device
for complex sets of conscious and unconscious information” (Alland, 1977, p41). In order to gain access to the
information contained therein, Washburn argued convincingly that it was necessary to identify a universal parameter, fundamental to all decorative art forms in all societies.(Washburn, 1977, p.3). Symmetry classification is a
systematic and reproducible analytical procedure which
relies on the use of standardised units of measurement of
a parameter which is fundamental to all decorative art
forms. As such, it would appear to offer the facility for
advancing the understanding of the decorative arts, either
in general or else with specific reference to a given culture,
medium or time period. The work of Washburn and Crowe
is of significance in this regard. Symmetries of Culture
should be recognised as an essential preparatory text to
researchers intent on exploring further the universality of
symmetry in a cultural context.
5. In Conclusion
This paper has debated the potential of symmetry classification as an analytical tool to aid the understanding of
pattern and its cultural significance. The fact that different
cultural settings appear to show different symmetry preferences is of importance. Also, non-random distributions of
symmetry classes, from culture to culture, indicate that
symmetry classification is capable of isolating and pinpointing an attribute which is culturally sensitive. The consideration of symmetry preferences may thus offer the key to
discovering the precise relationship between the decorative arts and other subsystems as well as the nature of cultural change itself.
Textile Journal
47
References
Adams, M. J., 1973, Structural Aspects of a Village Art,
American Anthropologist, 1973, 75, pp265-279.
Alland, A., 1977, The Artistic Animal, Anchor Books,
New York.
Arnold, D. E., 1983, ‘Design Structure and Community
Organisation in Quinua Peru’, in Structure and Cognition in
Art, (edited by D. K. Washburn), Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, pp56-73.
Ascher, M. and Asher, R., 1981, Code of the Quipu: A
study in Media, Mathematics and Culture, The University
of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, pp54-57.
Brainerd, G. W., 1942, ‘Symmetry in Primitive
Conventional Design’, American Antiquity, 8, (2),
pp164-166.
Campbell, P. J., 1989, ‘The Geometry of Decoration on
Prehistoric Pueblo Pottery from Starkweather Ruin’, in
Symmetry 2. Unifying Human Understanding, (edited by I.
Hargittai), Pergamon Press, New York.
Christie, A. H., 1910, Traditional Methods of Pattern
Designing, Clarendon Press Oxford, and as Pattern
Design. An Introduction to the Study of Formal Ornament,
1969, Dover, New York.
Crowe, D. W., 1971, ‘The Geometry of African Art. Part 1:
Bakuba Art’, Journal of Geometry, 1, pp169-182.
Day, L. F., Pattern Design, Batsford, London, 1903
El-Said, I. and Parman, A., 1976, Geometric Concepts in
Islamic Art, World of Islam Festival Publishing Company,
London.
Hann, M. A., 1992, ‘Symmetry in Regular Repeating
Patterns: Case Studies from Various Cultural Settings’,
Journal of the Textile Institute, 83,(4), pp579-590.
Hann, M. A. and Thomson, G. M., 1992, The Geometry
of Regular Repeating Patterns, The Textile Institute,
Manchester.
Kaeppler, A. L., 1978, ‘Melody, Drone and Decoration:
Underlying Structures and Surface Manifestations in
Tongan Art and Society’, in Art in Society, (edited by M.
Greenhalgh and V. Megaw), St Martin’s Press, New York,
pp261-274.
Kent, K. P., 1983, ‘Temporal Shifts in the Structure of
Tradition: Southwestern Textile Designs’, in Structure and
Cognition in Art, (edited by D. K. Washburn), Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, Mass. p183.
Meyer, F. S., 1894, Handbook of Ornament: A Grammar
of Art, Industrial and Architectural, 4th ed. Hessling and
Spielmayer, New York, reprinted by Dover, New York,
1957, and as Meyer’s Handbook of Ornament, Omega,
London, 1987.
Crowe, D. W., 1975, ‘The Geometry of African Art. Part 2:
A Catalogue of Benin Patterns’ Historia Mathematica,
1975, 2, pp253-271.
Muller, E., 1944, Gruppentheoretische und
Strukturanalytische Untersuchungen der Maurischen
Ornamente aus der Alhambra in Granada, PhD thesis,
University of Zurich.
Crowe, D. W., 1982, ‘ The Geometry of African Art. Part 3:
The Smoking Pipes of Begho’ in The Geometric Vein: The
Coxeter Festschrift (edited by C. Davis, B. Grunbaum and
F. A. Sherk), Springer, New York, pp177-189.
Shepard, A., 1948, The Symmetry of Abstract Design with
Special Reference to Ceramic Decoration, Contribution
no. 47, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Publication no.
574, Washington.
48
Textile Journal
Stephenson, C. and Suddards, F., 1897, A Textbook
Dealing With Ornamental Design for Woven Fabrics,
Methuen, London.
Van Esterik, P., 1979, ‘Symmetry and Symbolism in Ban
Chiang Painted Pottery’, Journal of Anthropological
Research, 35, (4), pp495-508.
Washburn, D. K., 1977, ‘A Symmetry Analysis of Upper
Gila Area Ceramic Design’, Papers of the Peabody
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 68, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass.
Design. Part 4: Counterchange Symmetry in Plane
Patterns”, Journal of the Textile Institute. Transactions, 27,
T305-T320.
Zaslow, B. and Dittert, A. E., 1977, The Pattern Technology
of Hohokam ,
Anthropological Research Papers no.2, Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona.
Washburn, D. 1983, ‘Towards a Theory of Structural Style
in Art’ in Structure and Cognition in Art, (edited by D. K.
Washburn), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Mass., pp138-164.
Washburn, D. 1986, Symmetry Analysis of Yurok, Karok
and Hupa Indian Basket Designs, Empirical Studies of the
Arts, 4, (1), pp19-45.
Washburn, D. K. and Crowe, D. W., 1989, Symmetries of
Culture: Theory and Practice of Plane Pattern Analysis,
University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Design. Part 1: Point and Line Symmetry ion Simple
Figures and Borders”, Journal of the Textile Institute.
Transactions, 26, T197-T210.
Design. Part 2: Nets and Sateens”, Journal of the Textile
Institute. Transactions, 26,T293-T308.
Design. Part 3: Geometrical Symmetry in Plane Patterns”,
Journal of the Textile Institute. Transactions, 26, T341-T357.
Textile Journal
49
De interaktiva kuddarna
Linda Melin, Interactive Institute, PLAY Research
www.interactiveinstitute.se
Abstract in English
This work is about combining textile design and information technology. The
result is a pair of interactive pillows. The pair of pillows works in this way: one of
the pillows is placed in your home and the other one is placed in the home of
one of your relatives, e.g. your mothers. If you place your pillow in your sofa
and lean back at it, a pattern will appear on your mother's pillow and vice versa.
Keywords:
Textile pattern as communication, lighting textile, weaving, textile and
information technology
I detta arbetet har kombinationen textildesign och informationsteknologi undersökts. Resultatet blev de interaktiva kuddarna. Detta kuddpar fungerar på
följande sätt: en av kuddarna placeras hemma hos dig och den andra hos
en nära släkting, t.ex. din mor. Om du har din kudde i soffan och lutar dig
mot den, då framträder en mönsterbild på din mors kudde och tvärt om.
Genom att kombinera det textila materialet med informationsteknologin och
använda föremål som textil ofta förknippas med, så som kuddar, gardiner och
dukar, skapar vi nya dynamiska uttryckssätt för såväl det textila materialet som
för informationsteknologin (1). Med andra ord så integreras teknologin i våra
vardagsföremål och traditionell textil uppgraderas till vårt moderna samhälle.
Datorer och mobiltelefoner är en stor del av vår vardag, de hjälper oss bland
annat med att utföra tjänster allt snabbare och effektivare men borde vi inte
tänka mer på hur vi designar den teknologi som vi väljer att omge oss med och
även titta på hur vi skulle kunna använda tekniken på nya sätt? Att till exempel
arbeta mer med estetiska värden möjliggör reflektion kring teknologi och kommunikation (2).
Linda Melin is a textile designer/researcher
working at The Interactive Institute (PLAY
Research) and are a masterstudent in textiledesign at The Swedish School of Textiles,
University College of Borås.
50
Textile Journal
Ett av kuddparen när de inte är aktiverade.
Textile Journal
51
Mönsterbilder som kommunikation
Trådlös kommunikation
Textildesign kan handla om att konstruera olika textila
strukturer för olika ändamål, t.ex. slitstyrka eller om att
utsmycka en yta. Mönsterbilder kan vara dekorativa och
mer eller mindre kommunikativa. Om man tittar på gamla
tiders broderade bonader så är de både dekorativa och
kommunicerar ett budskap medan dagens textil ofta handlar om trender i färg och form. I detta arbete har mönsterbilden fått en kommunikativ som såväl estetisk roll.
Genom att kombinera textiltekniska egenskaper och nya
textilmaterial med informationsteknologin så vill vi skapa
nya egenskaper hos textilen, istället för att applicera det på
en redan befintlig vara. Detta kan skapas med textila
material som har egenskaper som man på något sätt kan
styra och på det sättet integreras informationsteknologin.
Det kan tex. handla om material som kan ändra färg,
material som kan tändas och släckas eller material där
strukturen kan förändras. Exempel på detta är "The information curtain" (4) där man kan förmedla budskap på en
färgföränderlig gardin. Andra typer av textila displayer för
att föra ut information/ mönsterbilder på beskrivs i "Using
Color-Changing Textiles as a Computer Display" (3).
Ytterligare exempel är France Telecom som har gjort en
ryggsäck med en textildisplay som kan visa bilder, vilka
laddas ner från internet. Displayen är tillverkad av bland
annat fiberoptik och ljusdioder (5).
Om vi återgår till kuddarna, så är kommunikationen där
ordlös och istället får estetiken ta plats, mönsterbilderna
uppstår genom att sätta på eller stänga av någon typ av
information. Användningen av detta kan vara för att förmedla information som för den oinvigde endast ser ut som
en utsmyckning.
De elementen som vi har arbetat med i detta projektet är
färg och ljus-föränderliga bilder som tänds och släcks och
en variant som blir varm och då framkallas även en synlig
mönsterbild.
Internet och trådlös kommunikation möjliggör denna nya
typ av design där information påverkar själva skapandet av
en mönsterbild. Till det interaktiva kuddparet har vi arbetat
med en kommunikationsplattform som kopplar ihop de
båda kuddarna via Internet.
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Textile Journal
Föränderliga material
Idag finns mycket nya egenskaper hos textila material, alla
gånger är de inte färdigutvecklade och man kan inte
garantera hållbarhet t.ex. färghållfasthet. Men vad vi vill är
att undersöka hur dessa material kan användas tillsammans med informationsteknologin. I detta projektet har vi
använt oss av termokroma färger och en elektrolumiscent
wire som de föränderliga materialen.
Prototyperna
Vi har jobbat med två olika typer av kuddar, en modell där
vissa mönsterbilder börjar lysa och en annan som blir varm
(och då förändras även mönsterbilden). Dessa kuddar är
tänkta att fungera i par, man kan kombinera ihop en som
lyser och en som blir varm (och förändrar mönsterbild) eller
så kan två "likadana" kopplas ihop. Nedan kommer de
olika prototyperna beskrivas närmare.
De lysande kuddarna
Dessa kuddarna är vävda på handvävstol. Materialen som
har använts är främst ull och en elektrolumiscent wire som
har den egenskapen att den går att tända och släcka. Den
ena kudden har fått ett väldigt traditionellt och lite hemvävt
utseende, bindningen är ett hålkrus med en hög täthet i
varpen för att gömma den plastiga wiren. Denna kudde får
när den aktiveras ett väldigt modernt uttryck, det blir en
intressant kombination mellan tradition och modern teknologi. Den andra kudden (den röda kudden ovan) har från
början fått ett mer modernt och plastigt utseende eftersom
wiren flotteras och helt synliggörs. För att förstärka det
plastiga intrycket och ljusstyrkan har andra reflekterande
material blandats in i väven.
Här är väven inte aktiverad.
Här är väven aktiverad.
Textile Journal
53
De varma kuddarna
Detta kuddpar blir varma och detta i sin tur förändrar
också mönsterbilden på kudden. Till denna prototyp har vi
använt en termokrom screentrycksfärg och inuti kudden
finns en typ av värmedyna. Så till denna prototyp har vi
jobbat med både värme och estetik för att kommunicera
mellan kuddarna. Så om din kudde ligger i soffan och
mönsterbilden är förändrad vet du att den också är varm
och sitter du i soffan och lutar dig mot kudden så känner
du att den blir varm (aktiverad) även om du inte ser den.
På detta sättet vill vi också förstärka varför det är just
kudden som vi har andvän oss av. Kudden är ju ett föremål som vi gärna kramar och om den svarar med värme
så har vi utökat upplevelsen hos användaren, från att
"bara" kunna förändra den synliga mönsterbild till att kunna
förmedla värme.
Sammanfattning
Genom att integrera den elektrolumiscenta wiren i väven
och genom att använda IT har vi skapat ett material med
dynamisk mönsterbild. Detta skulle kunna förfinas och
utvecklas vidare för att få fler mönstringsmöjligheter men
även för att kunna utveckla kommunikationen beroende på
om du kramar, skakar eller hoppar på din kudde.
Ytterligare, så har egenskaper som värme integrerats för
att kommunicera, både genom att textilen förmedlar värmen och genom att använda färger som i sin tur förändras. Detta skulle kunna vidareutvecklas genom att integrera värmeslingorna i väven. Så istället för att appliceras
skulle det integreras.
Detta sätt att kombinera IT och textil öppnar upp för nya
sätt att skapa mönsterbilder på. Genom att använda IT
och denna typ av dynamiska textiler integreras ytterligare
egenskaper i textilen, den kommunikativa och den interaktiva. Och det känns som om vi är tillbaka vid de gamla
broderade bonaderna, fast i uppdaterad form.
54
Textile Journal
Tack!
Detta är ett forskningsprojekt som finansieras av Vinnova,
projektet "Emotional Broadband" inom ramen för användarcentrerad IT-utveckling och "Textiles and Computational
Technology" inom ramen för nätverksbaserad programvaruutveckling. Projektet är ett samarbete mellan The
Interactive Institute (PLAY Research), CR&T AB,
Gatespace AB och Marks Pelle vävare AB.
Referenser
1. Hallnäs, L & Melin,L & Redström, J (2002). A Design
Research Program for Textiles and Computational technology. The Nordic Textile Journal, Etcetra Offset Borås
2. Hallnäs, L & Redström, J (2001). Slow TechnologyDesigning for Reflection. In Personal and Ubiquitous
Computing (2001) 5:201, Springer- Verlag London Ltd
3. Holmquist, L-E & Melin, L (2001). Using Color-Changing
Textiles as a Computer Graphics Display. In: Conference
Abstract and Applications of Siggraph 2001 ACM press
4. Melin, L, (2001) The Information Curtain: creating digital
patterns with dynamic textiles. In: Extended abstract of
CHI 2001 ACM press
5. Watkins, P(2002, Autum). Fibres and fabric.Textile View,
sid 18-21.
Material
Elektrolumiscent wire finns att köpa hos Steffeco AB.
Telefon: 08-7492123
Termokrom screentrycksfärg finns att köpa hos Zenit AB.
Telefon: 033-205 762
Textile Journal
55
Design! Design?
Professor Johan Huldt
University Colleges of Borås
E-mail: johan.huldt@hb.se
"Design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their sytsems in whole lifecycles.
Therefore design is the central factor of innovative humanisation of technologies
and the crucial factor of cultural and economic exchange." ICSID.
Swedish design responding to important briefs has many times raised international attention. Design is not better than their program. The design process
means to give the creative answer to a question transformed into a brief or program. In Sweden we have a long tradition to put relevent and interdisciplinary
questions in the field of design. Interesting design is the result of important and
strong programs.
Johan Huldt, professor since 2003 at The
Swedish School of Textiles in Design Theory
and Methods. He is also head of design in his
own company, Innovator and ex. MD of governemental supported Swedish Society of Crafts
and Design.
56
Textile Journal
Design as topic and area of common debate have changed remarkably during
the last couple of years in Sweden. Design debate was earlier not as freequent
as today but when it happened it was rather about the program of design than
its expressions. Today it seems to be other way around. That is very unfortunate. More and more people are getting involved in design professionally but very
few represent the field of research, knowledge building and design litterature.
Several possibilities of university level design education have opened. In the
last five to ten years highschool education of design subjects have more than
doubled. Design has also become an area for politicians. In his governemental
declaration primeminister Göran Persson for the first time mentioned the area of
design as a force in the new society. On the first day of his new job as minister
of industry Mr Leif Pagrotsky gave design a new role as a future Swedish source of "raw material". At this point our Minister of culture Marita Ulvskog had allready adopted a national Swedish plan of action regarding architecture, form
and design. She also comitted the oldest design organization in the world,
Svensk Form, to create and establish a national scene for meetings and public
exhibitions on form and design. The year 2005 is exclaimed to be the official
year of design in Sweden by the goverment. This marks a shift for design as
part of the political life and an increased status level of design generally in the
Swedish society.
This does not mean that the understanding of design as a sciense has gained
in general understanding. Maybee the situation is the contrary. Design is used
unspecified and extensively to label the most scattered activities and phenome-
nas. Still design education and the design debate goes on
with many times blurred borders between art, design, concious purpose, function, content, style and surface.
Design is purpose, and statements from our industry
makes it clear that design will bee one of the most important factor of competition in the future. Along with the
increasing percentage of higher education in our population and thus the change in the Swedish industrial profile,
design like other activities based on intellectual capital fits
very well in the process. Added to this it is obvious that
design is the answer to how the democratic process can
be manifested in public areas, public transport and in the
architecture of public institutions. It is also the tool to
implement our aim to create a society for all (universal
design) the accessible and the sustainable society.
Integration in the society is yet another design challenge in
the battle between demand and desire. There is no doubt
that right now there are more than enough programs to
guide the development of the necessary new design in
products, processes and services. These programs are
equally strong and evident as other program were almost
fifty years ago when the fame of Swedish design spread
around the world.
Design is since long an important diciplin in Sweden.
Design is very present and of rather big importance to
most Swedish people. We have been used to live with
design in our everyday lives at home. Our furniture are
from known designers as well as our tableware, glasses
and textiles. Design is present when we use tools and
equipment in our daily work. The general public are also
very often aquainted with several national design personalities. As consumer we expect a good design and a good
performance when we buy objects belonging to the
sphere of interior design. We take it for granted that a breadknife is performing ergonomically and that an ordinary
dishbrusch may gain a design award. A canopener may
ofcourse also carry the designer name from the royal family. We also expect that our beautiful chair is friendly to our
spine and that our textiles are practical and functional at
the same time as they introduce coulor and pleasure in
our homes. We allready live with demands from third
generation of designconcious customers. The interior
design boom started in the mid 1950ies. The war was
over and Sweden was undamaged and saved from much
material and human suffering compared to most of our
neighbouring countries. The prewar campaign of "artists to
the industry" eventually gave fruit and the big design
explosion mirroring a new boundryless lifestyle was tested
and launched at the big lifestyle design exhibition H55 in
Helsingborg. Since then several generations of designers
and design oriented industries hav served the Swedish
people with everyday goods. “More beautiful goods for
everyday use” became the Swedish style and social ambition. Sweden became world famous in this area and we
experienced how Scandinavian Design became Swedish
Design. This development was not the same in most
industrialized countries. The Swedish designconcept was
very much design for all. The designconcept tried to be
democratic at least in the sense that the design program ,
or "brief" with todays vocabulary, was that the design was
meant for everybody. Design aimed to modernize everyday life and create beauty to a broader general public. Of
course this was a rather idealistic dream and some of the
more pronounced objects and interiors were more liked by
an intellectual elite than others and than the broad audience it was meant for. On the other hand it was just these
intellectual properties in Swedish Design that were so
much admired abroad rather than the spectacular creations and new daring style experiments. In an international
perspective the admiration of everything swedish gradually
faded away. We continued to promote the genuine well
meant design recipe in Sweden and continued very much
in the same way as we did before. We were encuraged
by the new learnings about the state of our planet with
problems like energy crises, pollution, garbage mountain
and insufficient concern for ergonomy or ecology. Maybee
some talented and artisic designers were muffled by this
mainstream ideals and other international designstars
could enter the stage unchallenged by the Swedes. Of
course the market have changed drastically and the idea
of a special swedish design flavour is becoming less and
less important. We have ofcourse a global design market
with several global design professionals. This is also true
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57
in Sweden. But has then national identity in design disapeared and lost its interesst and importance? Yes, and no!
Yes, when it is interpreted in a special style or expression ,
but no, when it comes to the intellectual properties. The
traditional Swedish way of formulating the "brief" is today
the hottest fashion. There is an old saying that a clock
which is totally stuck and stands still, is more correct than
a clock that runs to slow or to fast. The stuck clock at
least shows right time twice per 24hours whereas the
slow or fast clock never shows the right time. This may
also be valid when compared to Swedish design development. We were stubbornly working with our designconcept from the glorious period in middle of 1950ties until
recently. Today in the international world of design, there is
an understanding that the only real progressive way to
work with design as a concept is to include the dry and
serious matters of survival and sustainability. The design
profession has to be executed with talence, exellence and
with consideration taken to all new both threatening and
spectacular conditions of life.
The specific flavour of Swedish design can bee interpreted
in different way and often better from people with an outside perspective. We seem ourselves to be reluctant to
specify a national Swedish brand of any kind. This is healthy not only in wiew of the multicultured import and inspiration of design skills and of professionals. This migration
and mix started allready during the time of Gustav Vasa
and his sons, during the golden age of Gustav III until
today. In spite of this fact we still call many of these old
expressions our very own designroots. Ofcourse these
early "design" expressions were reserved for a small group
of wealthy people in castles and manors but the styles
and skills spilled over to a broader public gradually. The
design roots of today belongs ofcourse the ideas of the
20th century industrialized period and the specific social
wellfare state concept that Sweden developed.
"Swedish design is not a style, it is the development of
something much more profound". Vico Magistretti.
"Swedish design can bee distinguished, it is witty". Sir
Terence Conran
"Without design, nobody would ever choose to live in
Sweden (Scandinavia)". Per Mollerup
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"The difference between art and design is that it takes
competence to judge design". Storm Pedersen
Fabric with braille
SALDO
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Cloud Pattern Fabric
Gunilla Axen
Recyclable furniture program with a
sparepart system
Rapid
Dranger/Huldt, Innovator
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61
Body Care Program
Benktzon/Juhlin, Ergonomi Design
62
Textile Journal
Awarded Dishbrush
A & E Design
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63
Breadknife
Benktzon/Juhlin, Ergonomi Design
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Textile Journal
Letterknife & balance combined
Simplicitas
Theo Ehnlund
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65
Self disolving funeral urn of recycled paper
Pia Kristoffersson
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Queuenumber dispenser a part of
queue system equipment
A & E Design
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projekt
student
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Textile Journal
Kontaktskapande och smart examensutställning 2003
Det är oftast det enkla som är det geniala – det visar
Therese Södervall i sin examenskollektion. Hon är en av
de 21 designstudenterna som ställer ut i examensutställningen på Institutionen Textilhögskolan, Högskolan i Borås.
För första gången tar utställningen form i Textilhögskolans
egna lokaler. Avgångsstudenterna visar prov på allt från
historiska rekonstruktioner, nyskapande textilier till rufft
framtidsmode.
Designmetodik - en tvärvetenskaplig undersökning
av Therese Södervall
Det är oftast det enkla som är det geniala – det visar
Therese Södervall (modedesign) i sin examenskollektion.
Inspirationen fann hon i Indonesien, där hon studerade en
kort period i höstas. - Här sveper man in sig i ett tygstycke
och så blir det ett plagg som kan varieras och kombineras
på olika sätt. Jag har överfört samma idé i mina basplagg.
Konceptet med Therese Södervalls kollektion är, förutom
smarta plagglösningar, att kunden får titta på några generella plagg som är halvfabrikat och som sedan sys upp i
rätt passform. Hon har skapat underfundiga plagg. Här
finns en topp som upp och ner blir en kjol. Eller en ponchoschal som lika gärna kan vara en längre tulpankjol, en
stickad kofta som är kort när den vänds åt ett håll och upp
och ner blir den lång – här finns också en vändbar jacka.
Med bara några få plagg har hon skapat en hel garderob!
- Jag har inte jobbat efter traditionell mönsterkonstruktion,
utan meningen är att det är kundens kropp som
bestämmer proportionerna.
Therese Södervalls inspiration från Indonesien märks
också tydligt i färg och material. Här gäller starka och klara
färger och siden och stämpelbatik. - Jag har tänkt att man
ska kunna tillverka grunden till basplaggen i Indonesien
och själva slutfasen av arbetet görs i Sverige.
Foto: Peter Andersson och Superstudio
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71
Simmar ur bild
av Ida Olsson
- Jag har vävt en dekorativ textil i lin
som jag sedan doppat i pappersmassa, säger Ida Olsson
(Textilvetenskap med inriktning mot
handvävning).
Inspirationen till den vackra väven
hämtade hon ur en fiskbok.
- Jag gjorde skissar av fiskar och
fastnade för sardinens färg och teckning. Ida vill fortsätta och utveckla
idén till hösten.
Foto: Peter Andersson
Bästis
av Linda Sturesson
- Mina kuddar är tänkta att ge lägenheten en personlig touch, berättar
Linda Sturesson (Texildesign).
- Det ska var lätt att byta klädsel och
givetvis ska de vara bekväma att sitta
i. Tanken är att man lätt ska kunna ta
med sig sina möbler när man flyttar ofta.
Hennes stora kuddar ser mjuka och
inbjudande ut.
- Min kollektion har inspirerats av grafitti. Men i framtiden vill jag utveckla
idén och ta fram olika tyger och
modeller. Kanske bredda sortimentet
med exempelvis fotpallar.
Foto: Superstudio
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73
Rock’n’roll – She rocks
av Anna Maria Söderholm
- Min affärsidé är att ge företags förluster ett mervärde.
Med sin kaxiga kollektion i denim och
skinn har Anna Maria Söderholm
(Modedesign) tagit till vara på returer
och secondhand material.
- Av jeans som till exempel gått sönder har jag sytt finskrädderi som
kavajer och kappor. Det här är något
som jag känner att jag vill utveckla.
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Mönsterplan
av Anette Carlsson-Moberg
- Varför mönstrar vi bara vissa delar
av vårt hem? Vad är det som säger
att just väggar ska ha mönster och
inte dörrar?
Anette Carlsson-Moberg (Textildesign)
har funderat kring användandet av
mönster i svenska hem och tagit fram
en hel kollektion med skilda mönster.
- Tänk så lätt det är att förändrar med
mönster och färg, säger hon och
stryker med handen över den laminatskiva hon tagit fram. Vackert mönstrad
i grönt, rosa och vitt.
Foto: Superstudio
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Performance med drag
i Borås under examensutställningen 2003
Publiken hamnar verkligen rakt in i
händelsernas centrum under den
performance som designstudenterna
arrangerar i anslutning till sin examensutställning på Institutionen
Textilhögskolan.
– Det här är verkligen roligt. Man blir
glad efter en sådan här föreställning,
konstaterar en nöjd och stolt
Kenneth Tingsvik, prefekt på
Institutionen Textilhögskolan.
Det är första gången som designstudenterna bjuder på en gemensam
föreställning istället för en traditionell
modevisning, där endast modedesignstudenternas kollektioner lyfts fram. Nu
syns alla. Dessutom är det första
gången som examensutställningen
hålls i Textilhögskolans egna lokaler.
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Det är en ung, medveten generation
formgivare, designers och textilvetare
som presenterar sig. På ett lekfullt
sätt kedjas varje examensjobb in i
det andra, så att samtliga 21 studenter får rum på det runda podiet eller
projicerat som bildsekvenser på
väggen ovanför. Tempot är högt och
intensivt – här blir det aldrig tråkigt.
Först ut är Sofia Norinders glada och
lekfullt japaninfluerade kimmonos,
tunikor och kjolar i stark gult och turkos. En av modellerna stannar sedan
kvar på scenen och lika enkel och
genial som Therese Södervalls kolllektion är - lika enkelt får modellen på
sig toppen (som lika gärna kan bäras
upp och ner), liksom byxorna och
poncho-jackan.
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Som demonstrationsplakat exponeras Helena Engarås textiltryck på
hampa med budskapet "REA".
Mjuka och kärleksfulla ter sig Linda
Sturessons kudd-soffor. De är stapelbara, lätta att förflytta och budskapet går inte att ta miste på. Tyget
som klär kuddarna har Grafitti-influerade ord som "bästis" och "du och
jag tillsammans".
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83
Som final – rockar Anna-Maria
Söderholms rockbrudar ut på scenen. Det är en scen och visningskolllektion som hon tagit fram tillsammmans med jeansföretaget Nudie. Det
är slitna och ruffa blåjeans i kombination svarta skinndelar som prytts med
symboler för rock´n´roll
Text: Annie Andréasson
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Textile Journal
Allt i Hemmet delar för andra året i rad ut sitt stora
textilpris ”Bästa textilmönster 2003”
Årets vinnare är ”REA”, ett handtryckt tyg av Helena Engarås, nyutexaminerad
textilformgivare från Textilhögskolan i Borås. ”REA” har en lite ruff och stökig
storstadskänsla, med många färger och formelement.
- Jag inspirerades av Köpenhamn och Amsterdam, berättar Helena, av stadens
energi, och av det mångkulturella som inte alltid får synas.
Helena Engarås skulle gärna se en miljövänligare textilindustri. Att hon tänker
”grönt” visar sig också i det vinnande tyget:
- Mönstret är tryckt på ett hampatyg, som är miljövänligare att odla än bomull.
Dessutom går det att odla i Sverige så att man kan undvika transporter över
halva jordklotet.
Sedan Helena lämnade Textilhögskolan i våras, arbetar hon med flera olika projekt. Bland annat med att ta fram en kollektion kläder tillsammans med en före
detta modeelev från skolan.
- Likriktning är tråkigt! Saker ska kunna vara lite annorlunda, säger Helena, som
vill ha mer färg och form i vår offentliga miljö.
Juryns motivering:
Mönstret är fullt av humor, citykänsla och energi! Det för tankarna till Indien,
Bollywood och färgglada matförpackningar från Orienten. Likväl är det välkomponerat och förenar abstrakta och figurativa element. I färger och linjespel påminner det om Joseph Franks mönster - tekniskt skickligt, egensinnigt och vitalt.
Jurymedlemmar är: Vanja Djanaieff - professor i textilformgivning, Gunila Axén formgivare och professor i textilformgivning på Konstfack samt Maria Wahlström
- adjunkt i textildesign på Textilhögskolan i Borås, Camilla Fürst - textilformgivare
och inredare på Allt i Hemmet samt Linda Grahn - chefredaktör för Allt i Hemmet.
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Foto Allt i hemmet
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87
Stilsäker dandy vann KappAhl Award 2003
En stilsäker kollektion med stringens och ett tydligt hantverk - så löd en del av
juryns motivering till varför Astrid Olsson vann KappAhl Award 2003. Priset
delades ut i anslutning till den modevisning som modedesignstudenterna från
Textilhögskolan årskurs två brukar ge under modeveckan i Stockholm.
Modevisningen anno 2003 höll mycket hög klass och studenterna väckte stor
uppmärksamhet för sin kreativitet. Astrid Olsson har hämtat inspiration till sin
kollektion ”To be a dandy” från den klassiska 1800-tals dandyn Bean Brummel,
som stod för snobbig överklass. Hon har skapat kläder för både dam och herr
med genomtänkta detaljer och attribut för dagens dandy. Kritstrecksrandigt,
skotstrutigt i en stilig förpackning.
– Priset och framför allt motiveringen känns som en bekräftelse på att det jag
gör är bra, säger en glad prisvinnare.
Foto Stefan Jerrevång
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Påklädda utan en söm på kroppen
Under hösten visade fjorton studenter från Textilhögskolan
det oskurna tygets gränser utforskades i utställningen "Ett
stycke tyg" på Form Design Center i Malmö. Utställningen
blev mycket uppmärksammad i press för dess kreativitet
och experimentlusta. Studenterna kom från både kandidatoch magisterutbildningarna i modedesign, textildesign och
textilvetenskap med inriktning mot handvävning.
Inspirationen till kreationerna fick studenterna från Tonci
Vladislavic, professor i mode vid Faculty of Textile
Technology vid universitetet i Zagreb, som undervisat på
plats i Borås i drapering.
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Delad mässa - Möbelmässan 2003 Textilhögskolan
Med beröm godkänt genomförde textildesignstudenterna på årskurs två sitt
eldprov i - möbelmässan i Stockholm.
I montern som gick under temat ”Delad” presenterade de textil på ett nytt sätt i
form av textilklädda mjuka kuber. Ett annorlunda grepp som väckte stort intresse.
– Delad är ett vitt begrepp. Vi är alla individuella, förklarar de sex textildesignstudenterna som samlats för att berätta om sitt deltagande i Möbelmässan i
mitten av februari 2003. Detta år hade alla studenter och unga oetablerade
designers en egen hall till förfogande, vilket boråsstudenterna tyckte var bra.
Ordet ”nödvändigt” var utgångspunkten för samtliga i klassen. Utifrån detta
skapade de skisser som resulterade i delade meningar, delade mönster och
delade material. De mjuka formerna bjöd mässdeltagarna till att känna
på textilierna.
Text Annie Andréasson
Foto Jerker Ivarsson
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www.
hb.se/ths/ctf
Centrum för Textilforskning
Craft
Design
Textile- and design management
Textile technology
The Nordic Textile
journal

CTF sid 1-6 - Högskolan i Borås

Transcription

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