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From MIT to Burning Man: The Living Knitwork Pavilion Credit Irmandy Wicaksono
24.10.2023

From MIT to Burning Man: The Living Knitwork Pavilion

Set against the vast and surreal backdrop of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, Burning Man is an annual gathering that transforms the flat, barren expanse into a vibrant playground for artistic and creative expression. Here, "Burners" come to both witness and contribute to the ephemeral Black Rock City, which participants build anew each year. With its myriad art installations and performances, Black Rock City is a temporary home for creative minds from around the world.

Set against the vast and surreal backdrop of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, Burning Man is an annual gathering that transforms the flat, barren expanse into a vibrant playground for artistic and creative expression. Here, "Burners" come to both witness and contribute to the ephemeral Black Rock City, which participants build anew each year. With its myriad art installations and performances, Black Rock City is a temporary home for creative minds from around the world.

This year among the large-scale art stood the Living Knitwork Pavilion, an unusual architectural piece crafted from knitted textiles and a lattice network of wood. Developed and built by a team of researchers from the MIT Media Lab and MIT School of Architecture and Planning, and led by PhD student Irmandy Wicaksono, the installation received a 2023 Black Rock City Honorarium. For the team, it was a highly challenging and fulfilling project, full of learning and surprises. Seeing it emerge and illuminate in the middle of the desert was truly magical.

In the Living Knitwork Pavilion, 12 modular fabric panels, known as Knitwork petals, are connected through a central tower. The whole installation stood as a dodecagonal pyramid shade structure, 18 feet tall and 26 feet wide, resembling a teepee. The fabrics were developed using digital machine knitting and a collection of functional and common yarns, including photochromic, luminous, and conductive yarns. Taking inspiration from the intricacy of textile patterns and temple carvings of Indonesia, Wicaksono leveraged the tension between knitted polyester and spandex yarns to create textural textile patterns or reliefs. The fusion of parametric and hand-designed motifs transforms the "Living Knitwork" into a narrative artwork, reflecting both a reverence for ancient artistry and a vision of the future. These reliefs, full of symbols and illustrations, depict 12 stories of the future — from solarpunk cities and bio-machine interfaces to the deep ocean and space exploration.

Burning Man and the Black Rock Desert are famed for their climbing enthusiasts and intense winds. Given that strong winds can make the fabrics behave like sails, exerting significant force, the team designed a structure capable of supporting the weight of many climbers, and withstanding wind speeds of up to 70 mph.

The finalized central structure of the pavilion consists of an asymptotic lattice network of lumber and joint elements, optimized for structural integrity while minimizing material use. The knitwork petals, integrated with double-knit structure and mesh openings, and thermoformed through melting yarns, maintain structural stability. Tailored channels for ropes and cables were also incorporated into the knitting design, ensuring each fabric and electrical component is securely anchored and protected, without compromising visual elegance. Facing winds that reached 36 mph this year, the Living Knitwork Pavilion remained steadfast throughout the Burning Man event, demonstrating its resilience in extreme desert conditions.

In support of Burning Man's push for more sustainable art, the Living Knitwork Pavilion utilized additive manufacturing of digital knitting. This method allowed for the creation of custom multi-layer textiles that are both aesthetic and functional, all while minimizing raw material use and waste. The team incorporated recycled materials in their fabrics, with 60 percent of the yarns coming from recycled plastic bottles. The pavilion also runs entirely on battery power and solar cells. The team worked together with the Solar Library, a sculptural solar panel that distributes energy to other arts on the playa, to eliminate generators and noise while promoting the use of renewable energy sources.

By day, the Living Knitwork Pavilion served as a shade structure, while providing a communal space for meditation and discovery. As the sun shifts through the day, hidden-encrypted textile patterns and visual experience are revealed through photochromism and luminescent glow. As dusk descended upon the desert, the pavilion underwent a metamorphosis, illuminating its surroundings through an immersive lighting and audio system. Through a distributed network of antennas embedded within the central structure and each knitwork petal, the team’s ultimate goal was to create an intimate experience that allows individual and collective movement and activity to influence the overall ambience of the space, involving sound and illumination.

Throughout Burning Man, the pavilion also hosted pop-up events, from yoga sessions, dance performances, live music, and even a wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, in the last two days of the event, a heavy rainstorm hit the Black Rock Desert — a rarity for the event. Yet, this climatic twist worked in favor of the pavilion, helping cleanse its textile surface from the accumulated dust and reviving its vivid blue color.

The result of this grand project is a collaboration that transcends disciplinary boundaries. The research team aims to exemplify the remarkable possibilities that arise when architecture, technology, and textile arts converge and bring communities together.

The interdisciplinary group behind the Living Knitwork Pavilion includes researchers from across the Media Lab, the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, and the Department of Architecture: Irmandy Wicaksono, Sam Chin, Alfonso Parra Rubio, Nicole Bakker, Erik Strand, Gabriela Advincula, Manaswi Mishra, Age van der Mei, Judyta Cichoka, Tongge Yu, and Angelica Zhang.

Source:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT News

Volker Nienstedt, Coco Ruch, Frithjof Rödel (c) Marcel Krummrich. Volker Nienstedt, Coco Ruch, Frithjof Rödel
01.06.2021

Textile Art: People need Art - Art needs People

With her textile project "kunst.werke" [art.works], artist Britta Schatton draws attention to Thuringia's diverse art and cultural landscape. Together with photographer Marcel Krummrich, she portrays nine members of the Thuringian art world. The decisive and binding accessory is a hand-dyed and hand-printed scarf made of merino wool-silk-felt, that is individually produced for each artist - each unique piece is created from the personal perception of the respective wearer.

The pandemic has forced many artists to look for another, a virtual audience, due to the restrictions. This was not always successful. Therefore, it is part of the project to give all portrayed a voice about their personal situation in the time determined by Corona. These statements are to be heard on virtual stages.

With her textile project "kunst.werke" [art.works], artist Britta Schatton draws attention to Thuringia's diverse art and cultural landscape. Together with photographer Marcel Krummrich, she portrays nine members of the Thuringian art world. The decisive and binding accessory is a hand-dyed and hand-printed scarf made of merino wool-silk-felt, that is individually produced for each artist - each unique piece is created from the personal perception of the respective wearer.

The pandemic has forced many artists to look for another, a virtual audience, due to the restrictions. This was not always successful. Therefore, it is part of the project to give all portrayed a voice about their personal situation in the time determined by Corona. These statements are to be heard on virtual stages.

Britta Schatton emphasizes: “We all share the basic need to regularly experience and create art and culture as an integral part of life - even in times of pandemic. People need art - art needs people. Especially in pandemic times, when art and culture are increasingly threatened existentially."

The freelance artist prefers to work with felt and has completed her education at the Filzschule Oberrot in Baden-Württemberg under the guidance of Inge Bauer, Beatriz Schaaf-Giesser and Lyda Rump. Since 2012, qualifications with national and international textile artists such as Liz Clay (GB), Pam de Groot (AU), Britta Ankenbauer (DE), Ricarda Aßmann (DE) and Ute Herre (DE) followed. In 2014 she became a member of the artist group TAT Textil Art Thüringen.
          
In 2021, she received a special grant from the Free State of Thuringia for the "kunst.werke" project and was assigned to design the honorary awards for the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Show), which will take place in Erfurt in 2021.

An exhibition of the portraits can be seen in the store gallery ARTenVielfalt of Britta Schatton in Erfurt. Part of the revenue from the sale of the scarves and loops from the limited series will be used to support an institution for the promotion of youth art.

Photo: pasja1000 Pixabay
19.03.2019

SRI LANKA'S APPAREL AND TEXTILE EXPORTS RECEIVE A BOOST

  • Modernization of production facilities required

Thanks to the reactivated GSP import status of the European Union, Sri Lanka's textile and clothing industry is looking to the future with confidence and expects better sales opportunities abroad.

The textile and clothing industry is of macroeconomic importance for Sri Lanka. The sector accounted for almost 43 per cent of the country's total exports in 2018 and provides employment for nearly 350,000 workers in the formal sector and about twice as many in the informal sector. In total, this is about 33 percent of all jobs in the manufacturing industry. The majority of employees are women.

  • Modernization of production facilities required

Thanks to the reactivated GSP import status of the European Union, Sri Lanka's textile and clothing industry is looking to the future with confidence and expects better sales opportunities abroad.

The textile and clothing industry is of macroeconomic importance for Sri Lanka. The sector accounted for almost 43 per cent of the country's total exports in 2018 and provides employment for nearly 350,000 workers in the formal sector and about twice as many in the informal sector. In total, this is about 33 percent of all jobs in the manufacturing industry. The majority of employees are women.

The textile and clothing industry contribute around 6 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). "In view of the development of other sectors, it is very unlikely that another industry will reach this level of performance in the short to medium term," Jeevani Siriwardena, head of the Export Development Board (EDB), said in an interview with Germany Trade and Invest. The textile and clothing industry will continue to be an important sector for the Sri Lankan economy.

Short to medium-term prospects are good
On May 18th 2017, the European Union (EU) reactivated the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status for Sri Lanka after a seven-year time-out. This means that when goods are exported to the EU, the island state is exempted from customs duties on more than 66 percent of customs tariff lines. "Without GSP status, Sri Lanka's export losses are said to have cost around 32 billion between 2010 and 2017," stressed Ravindi Ranaraja, Deputy Head of the Export Service Division of EDB, in a GTAI interview. In particular, the strongly export-oriented clothing and textile industry will benefit from the regained GSP status. Sri Lanka's textile and clothing industry is looking to the future with confidence and also expects better sales opportunities abroad.

Sri Lanka's textile and clothing exports to the EU and Germany in 2018
(in USD million; change year-on-year in %)  
HS-Code Definition
 
EU
 
Change
 
Germany *) Change
 
61 Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted 1,177 0.7 232.55 9.6
62 Garments and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted 874 7.6 151.59 18.1
63 Other made-up textile articles; sets worn clothing and used textile articles 52 18.2 7.8 13.5
Total   2,103 3.9 391.92 12.8

*) Estimation
Sources: Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association; press releases; calculations by Germany Trade & Invest; Destatis, February 2019

Positive impulses are already visible. According to the latest foreign trade figures available, Sri Lanka was able to increase its total exports of textiles and clothing (HS codes 61, 62 and 63) by almost 4.8 percent to approximately USD 5 billion in 2018. Exports to the EU increased by 3.9 percent to USD 2.1 billion. Exports to Germany were able to recover a plus of 12.8 percent.

It is not yet certain that Sri Lanka will be able to make up for the losses of the past. In the meantime, countries such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which have already enjoyed tariff concessions in foreign trade with the EU for the entire current decade, have passed by the island state. Bangladesh in particular, recorded a strong increase in its clothing and textile exports compared with Sri Lanka..

Sri Lanka textile and clothing exports 2018 (HS codes 61, 62, 63)
Country In USD million 1)
China 172.4
Vietnam 36.0
Bangladesh 32.9
India 20.9
Indonesia 2) 14.0

1) Estimation; 2) Forecast
Sources: Press Releases; Calculations Germany Trade & Invest, February 2019

Sri Lanka focuses on higher quality products
Numerous domestic textile producers are switching to the production of higher-quality garments in order to maintain their competitiveness. "In Sri Lanka, the focus is not on mass but rather on higher quality products," confirmed M. Raghuram, Chief Executive Officer of Brandix, one of the country's largest clothing companies, in an interview with GTAI. The island state concentrates on the production of just a few product categories such as underwear, sportswear or lounge wear..

Sri Lanka has become a location for the manufacture of high-quality garments. This is also confirmed by the World Bank. In its 2016 study "Stitches to Riches" (website), it found that Sri Lanka outperformed its competitors India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in terms of quality, delivery times, reliability and sustainable social responsibility.

Sri Lanka serves fastidious international companies such as Victoria Secrets, GAP, Nike or Marks and Spencer. According to expert estimates, the production of the top 10 Sri Lankan textile and clothing companies accounts for around 85 percent of the industry's total exports.

The ambitious goal is to increase the garment industry's export revenues to USD 8 billion by 2025, which will require an annual growth of 6 percent. For this Sri Lanka must improve capacity, technology and resource problems. "It is becoming more and more difficult to find suitable personnel. For many young people working in the garment and textile industry in Sri Lanka is simply unattractive”, Nilanthi Sivapragasam, Chief Financial Officer of the conglomerate Aitkence Spence, told GTAI. The training of the workforce is also a major challenge. "Training new employees is very time-consuming and labor-intensive," confirms Sivapragasam.

Imports of German machinery decline
In addition, Sri Lanka's textile companies must modernize their machinery and expand their capacities in order to further increase productivity and added value. Accordingly, there is a great demand for technically sophisticated textile machines in the country. This offers good opportunities and chances for machine suppliers. According to experts, the demand for textile printing and dyeing machines, stenter frames and finishing technology will develop particularly dynamically in the future.
 
In Sri Lanka itself only relatively simple machines are being produced. High-end technology is mainly imported. China is the most important supplier of textile machinery, accounting for about one third of all imports. India has also been able to significantly increase its machine exports to Sri Lanka in recent years. In 2017, India achieved exports of USD 6.3 million, an increase of 46.7 percent, compared with exports of USD 2.6 million in 2010.

German machine exports suffered enormous losses. Sri Lanka's imports of textile machinery from Germany amounted to USD 16.5 million in 2017, a decrease of 54.2 percent. Over the past years, Germany has lost share of its deliveries. According to industry experts, this trend will continue: Made in Germany stands for quality and continues to be very popular in Sri Lanka; however, German machine manufacturers are often unable to keep up with the low-cost products from China or India.

Sri Lanka's imports of textile and clothing machinery
(SITC 724; USD million) 
Country 2016 2017 Change
China 56.3 51.8 -8.0
Japan 26.6 18.3 -31.1
Germany 36.0 16.5 -54.2
Singapore 13.6 14.5 -6.8
India 4.3 6.3 46.7
Total 192.8 155.3 -19.5

Source: UN Comtrade, March 2019

Contact addresses
Title Internet address Remark
Germany Trade & Invest http://www.gtai.de/srilanka Foreign trade information for the German export industry
AHK Sri Lanka http://www.srilanka.ahk.de Contact point for German companies
Sri Lanka Export Development Board http://www.srilankabusiness.com/edb State organization responsible for the development and promotion of exports in Sri Lanka. 

 

More information:
Sri Lanka
Source:

Heena Nazir, Germany Trade & Invest www.gtai.de