Electroluminescent wire (often abbreviated to EL wire) is a thin copper wire coated in a phosphor which glows when an alternating current is applied to it. wikipedia
Certainly the quality of EL wire is unlike other light sources like LED ( a series of points) – it produces a smooth unbroken line of visible light. Its thin diameter makes it flexible and ideal for use in a variety of applications such as clothing or costumes – which makes it very interesting for me to use it in my weaving practice.
Loop.pH is a London based art and design studio intervening at an urban scale to re-imagine life in the city. Rachel Wingfield set up loop.pH to develop reactive surfaces for the interior and has worked on architectural and fashion commissions, product design and public installations. Rachel Wingfield was as well a speaker at the Enmeshed: Architecture and Textiles Conference in Stockholm last year.
They experiment in many fields of electroluminescence materials.
The work of Loop.ph inspires me a lot, since they put their work in the context of urban spaces and their interaction. Their work is settled in between research, art and design practice, creating works that will define our future way of living – not only seen fro the use of new materials and techniques, morelikely from the side of a sustainable point of view. (read further MetabolicCity.
From a textile design point of view, the EL-wire poses a wider understanding of the use of light and textiles. Several esthetical functions can be of interest when working with the EL-wire: light as a design element (interior patterns), light as a communicative element (warning systems), light as a lighting element (light object), … . Aspects that I am aware of when making testweavings with the EL-wire on my table loom.
My studio with workshop for electronic textiles is now operative. I am equipped with all tools, materials, electronic hard and software, fibers and yarns necessary to create interactive environments, objects and Installations. Weaving chair and spinning wheel help me to combine optic fiber, el wire / light cable, conductive yarns, different kinds of fibers (natural, synthetic, animal, metal ) into electronic textiles, that can carry light and sound. Follow my work via blog, or pay a visit when you are around! Welcome!
Sneak preview of my first conductive yarn spinning results. I tried different technics, and different approaches to make them conductive. Some have a thin metal thread core (hidden), some have the metal thread/wire wrapped around the core (very loose coil spinning), some have metal splitters from stuff I found at the scrapyard (special stainless steal scrap yards…), some are a combination of it all. Now I am eager to produce conductive handspunn yarn, with the very thin metal wire I recently received samples for and in thinner quality.
Electric Blue, Material: metal wire core, stainless steal splitters, wool in different color, mohair, turquoise polyester yarnsplitter
Electric Fairy tale, Material: Metal wire core, Metal wire wrapping, baby mohair, wool, turquoise yarnsplitter
Electric Glitter, Material: stainless steal splitter, yarn splitter, mohair, wool / shetland tops / leicester tops / , flax
Electric Jazz, Material: metal wire core, metal wire wrapping, wool / shetland tops, Bluefaced leicester tops
Having absorbed the workshop of spinning and the spirit of Lexi Boeger, I was motivated to get going on my own spinningwheel. It just arrived from germany. It is very old, but still can do! With the aim to produce yarn, that can conduct electricity, and to work with the esthetics of the existing conductive yarn on the market I set ahead. Here you can see the first handspun conductive yarn, well, it is certainly decorative and to beautiful to be woven into something – so I ll keep them around in my studio just as they are and I am quite sure they will find the way in one of my projects.
Material: thin metal wire, grey norwegian wool, mohair, found fishing material
March 15 – 18th 2010 / Wearable Sound Experiments
I was attending a workshop in Wearable Sound Experiments at Atelier Nord, Oslo run by Hannah Perner-Wilson and Miko Satomi. The workshop introduces basic soft electronics techniques for constructing fabric sensors and wearable circuits.
Read more..
May 8th – 9th 2010, Lillehammer, Spinnvilt Location
The textile artist Lexi Boeger/ Placerville, California, USA will give a spinning workshop that introduces techniques to create your own new and original styles. Pluckyfluff´s creations of garn, her experimental approach in material and size, is motivating me to learn how to produce my own garn for my work.
Read more about the Camp Pluckyfluff on Spinnvilt. Visit Lexi Boegers Blogg.
