Patchwork

Open Source Embroidery, created by Newcastle upon Tyne-based artist Ele Carpenter, explores collaborative creation through the media of needlework and computer programming.  The same issues–the need to balance attention to detail with a group approach to work, the debate over proprietary and common property–appear in each craft:

Embroidery is constructed (mostly by women) in hundreds of tiny stitches which are visible on the front of the fabric. The system of the stitches is revealed on the back of the material. Some embrioderers seal the back of the fabric, preventing others from seeing the underlying structure of the pattern. Others leave the back open for those who want to take a peek. A few integrate the backend process into the front of the fabric. The patterns are shared amongst friends in knitting and embroidery ‘ciricles’.

Software is constructed (mostly by men) in hundreds of tiny pieces of code, which form the hidden structure of the programme or interface. Open Source software allows you to look at the back of the fabric, and understand the structure of your software, modify it and distribute it. The code is shared amongst friends through online networks. However the stitches or code only make sense to those who are familiar with the language or patterns.

Carpenter developed these themes in a collaborative work she facilitated involving needlework and computer enthusiasts from Banff, Newcastle, and Sheffield. Participants created a 216-piece patchwork–a multicolored work of hexagonal cells, based on the palette used in computer graphics–and a wiki recording the progress of the project and details about contributors. As participants worked to translate the electronic image into fabric and the fabric into data, they discussed the similarities between their uses of technology and ways of sharing data.

The project is currently on exhibit at London’s HTTP Gallery.