Interview

The Sublime And The Vulnerable. The Art Of Carrie Mae Rose

Article originally published on Digicult – Articolo originariamente pubblicato su Digicult Invented by the famous, controversial and brilliant scientist Nikola Tesla at the end of XIX century, the“Violet Ray” became a popular tool of healing in electrotherapy. In the thirties it was said that the discharge of electrical particles of a violet color emitted by the device could cure ailments ranging from back pain to the effects of anthrax. Edgar Cayce, the father of holistic medicine, strongly recommended its use, until the Food & Drug Administration forbade the sale after the manufacturer had to pay compensation for damage caused using this instrument. A few decades later, however, the “Violet Ray” came back. It began to spread through its derivative tool called Violet Wands, an electrical stimulator that became popular in police departments and S&M communities. In fact, thanks to the control of its various degrees of intensity, electric discharge could be applied at low voltage with variable intensity ranging from stimulating pleasure to permanently damaging the body parts affected.

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(Re)Searching for a sustainable fashion system – Interview

(segue in italiano) Thanx to the collaboration with Jen Ballie, who kindly accepted our invitation last year to our Openwear conference, I had the chance to get in touch with Kay Politowicz, professor of Textile Design, co-founder and Project Director for the Textiles Environment Design (TED) research group at Chelsea. For many years she was Director of Undergraduate Textile Design Course at Chelsea – and promoted a high-level of achievement of students working with specialist material processes in textiles: knit, weave, print, stitch – increasingly using digital processes and a wider variety of workshops – such as ceramics, wood, metal. In that role she became increasingly aware of the need to develop an environmental focus to curriculum developments within the subject and the opportunities that such a focus would reveal. In the last few years she moved to an entirely research-based and funded role and she believes it has been a great way to develop opportunities for externally funded practice-based

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Craft Central London: an interview with Emily McKillop

Six months abroad then back to Italian “good ole manners”: a cultural shock. Then I discovered Critical Fashion, the Italian movement on sustainability. I worked a year and researched other four months on sustainability and fashion. At first they appear so apart from each other but I believe, and facts are supporting my feeling, they are getting very close and powerful. In this blog post I would like to focus on one of the aim of Critical Fashion: Collaboration. It is a very subtile question, rules are often missing and freedom may becomes chaos. But there are some projects around Europe that are working to bring together and share knowledge, like the case of Openwear. We find ourselves in London, 33-35 St. John’s Square, in front of Craft Central, new name of Clerkenwell Green Association, the not-to-profit pioneering organization established over 25 years ago to build a strong future to art and design. It is one of those places, called

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The ethical economy. The New Redistribution Of Value

Article originally published on Digicult – Articolo originariamente pubblicato su Digicult Ethical consumerism, fair trade, socially responsible investments and corporate social responsibility are all phenomena on the rise. At the same time there are also virtual and local currencies and peer-2-peer rating systems that make the creation and redistribution of value in globalized social communities that share a set of common values, more real. At first sight it could seem a more ethical spreading of traditional economy, but there is a soon-to-be-released book that sees these phenomena as a more structural change and the rise of a new paradigm. Ethical Economy (Columbia University Press), written by Adam Arvidsson in collaboration with Nicolai Peitersen, introduces to ethical economics and interprets the begin of a new, radically different economic system in which production is mainly collaborative and social, and in which the value is based on the quality of social interactions and relationships rather than on the quantity of productive time. The book however

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From knitting machines to wearable technology in Florence

(segue in italiano) Last april I was in Florence with some friends and had the chance to meet Riccardo Marchesi, electronic engineering, managing director of Inntex and founder of Plug&Wear, an e-shop offering materials and components specifically targeted to creators of interactive fashion. He let us visit his lab, showed us experiments and prototypes around e-textiles, and here’s some bits about the long conversation we had. An electronic engineer in the fashion world. First involved in the business of knitting machines, then getting into innovative textiles, and now being passionate about wearables. Is there a connection among those three, a path that you are following, or is it only a matter of chances? Life is a matter of chance. You must be at the right time in the right place or you will miss the train. I moved my first steps in a family business going around the world trying to sell our knitting machines. At the beginning I was

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