In this weaving project, during the initial brainstorming phase, I tried to deconstruct weaving from two aspects: material and technique.
From a technical perspective, weaving is often composed of threads (or any long, strip-like objects), holes, and nodes. This means we can weave by creating knots or holes with threads, or by creating holes on any surface and weaving by threading through these holes.
On the material level, I considered how different material properties could be used to create a sense of strangeness in weaving. This led to the following ideas:
In fashion design, ribbons are mostly decorative and typically exist on the surface of clothing. However, it might be an interesting idea to reverse this material's conventional function and use crochet techniques to make ribbons the primary woven structure.
Then I thought, since spaghetti is also in strip form, why not try weaving with it? Perhaps I could weave it into a large flat surface and cook it into a delicious tomato pasta dish to share at the xFab Lab.
Can I weave acrylic? Woven materials have always been understood as soft and flexible, but can rigid and transparent acrylic be woven? Following my technical exploration, I thought maybe I could use laser cutting to create small holes on the acrylic surface, then weave softer projection film through the holes to create a transparent acrylic weave. Perhaps three woven acrylic pieces could be combined to make a cool lamp!
I initially thought weaving with pasta was a brilliant idea, but after trying it, I found it extremely difficult. Uncooked spaghetti is very brittle, so if the warp and weft are too close together during the weaving process, the pasta easily breaks. It’s also quite challenging to weave specific patterns.
Since I didn’t have a crochet hook on hand, I thought I might try making one myself. I carved the shape of a crochet hook out of a chopstick. Although the chopstick has more friction compared to a regular crochet hook, making it a bit harder to use, it still works quite well for weaving small items!
After using cardboard to make all sorts of things in the first two weeks, I suddenly felt like I could create anything with my own hands. Especially with the step-by-step learning of how to use various machines during orientation, the whole process made me feel very fulfilled!
The process of weaving always brings me a sense of calm. While crocheting ribbons with the chopstick, I realized that this weaving process is quite similar to writing p5. We both start from the top-left corner of the canvas, weaving step by step to create the structure or pattern we want. However, I must say, the controllability and freedom of handmade crafts feel much greater to me than digital computation. The sense of accomplishment from doing xFab projects is always immense.
