Weave and Metaphor | Language and Materiality

My exhibit will be an exploration into the idea the materiality of code as a language with respect to the knowlede/data it stores. A project to explore the use of code in society as a means to archive and/or embody data on physically material mediums.

Through the use of a “virtual tapestry” of sorts which will be illustrated on screen as “woven” code (for example – the English alphabet as a grid and linear marquees  or “threads” of the binary code that are representative of each letter),  links on this tapestry will lead the visitor through an exhibit of database and/or archival objects (digital and analog) exemplifying the correlation and physicality of archiving events and knowledge with coding as a means to communicate. Examples of quipu weaves, works by Sheila Hicks and Phillip Stearns (referenced below) will be juxtaposed against hard disk drives and other so called digital databases, showing that the materiality of language as code, as a method of storing knowledge, is not new and persists to this day.

Quipu (source: incagallery.org)
Phillip Stearns Glitch Textiles (source: phillipstearns.com)

One comment

  1. Victor, we should talk! Phillip Stearns is one of the artists I mentioned in my proposal. I hope you’re checking out his Year Of
    The Glitch tumblr!

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