Electronic Textiles Workshop
by Barbara Layne (director of Studio subTela at the Hexagram Institute) Hexagram Institute
Barbara Layne will present a 2-day workshop that blends art, craft and technology by sewing electronic components onto flexible fabrics.
The workshop will address technical, aesthetic and artistic issues including:
• An introduction to basic electronics and designing simple circuits;
• The development of soft circuitry by sewing conductive threads into fabrics;
• The creation of… Show more light-emitting fabrics with LEDs and introduction to Electroluminsicent wires;
• A discussion of sensing devices and interactivity;
• Presentations of projects developed by different artists and designers of responsive textiles.
Workshop participants will design and create a small project that incorporates LEDs.
Previous knowledge of sewing or electronics is not required.
Day 1 (10am-5pm) Introduction to Basic Electronics
• Introduction of participants and presentation of workshop outline
• Lecture and Demonstration: Introduction to Basic Electronics
• Participants will design a basic circuit with LEDs on the breadboard, using resistors, switches and a battery. They will also produce a design on paper and test the design on the breadboard
• Demonstration: Making soft legs on hard components
• Begin adapting LEDs and other components
• Presentation of smart textiles projects
Homework: continue adapting electronic components for your textile circuit & bring tomorrow
Day 2 (10am-5pm) Constructing an Electronic Textiles Project
• Demonstration: Sewing with soft circuitry
• Construction of project
• Discussion of microcontrollers and sensing devices
• Brief discussion of Electroluminiscent Wire (El-wire). Participants should have finalized circuit schematics, can continue making soft-leg electronics for sewing and can begin sewing
• Discussion of Finishing Techniques
• Online presentation of websites related to Textiles & Technology
• Finishing, testing & debugging
• Cleanup, demonstration of completed projects
Barbara Layne Bio
Barbara Layne is a Professor of Studio Arts at Concordia University and the Director of Studio subTela, one of the Hexagram Institute’s media arts labs. The Studio is focused on the development of intelligent cloth structures for the creation of artistic, performative and functional textiles. She has lectured and exhibited internationally, most recently in El Museo Textil de Oaxaca, Mexico, The Kaunas Biennale of Textiles in Lithuania, Sensual Technologies in Australia and the International Symposia of Electronic Arts in Istanbul. The research has been supported with numerous grants including the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Conseil des arts du Quebec.
Show less