Barbara Layne’s interactive textiles address the social dynamics of fabric and human interaction #WearableWednesday

Check it out!

Canadian artist Barbara Layne works with textiles and LEDs to create pieces that speak to the dynamics of human interaction. Will, one of our staff members in the production department, recently got a chance to check out her work at the Museo Textil de Oaxaca and was really impressed by it. The above piece is called Jacket Antics:

These light-emitting jackets were originally designed for the exhibition Integration, in Sydney, Australia in Spring 2007. Intimate and interactive, they rely on the act of holding hands to present a range of dynamically encoded surfaces through their scrolling LED arrays. A variety of texts and designs related to time, place, communication and technological innovation were programmed into the LED displays of the garments.

In the first instance, the texts refer to technical innovations between Canada and Australia. When the wearers hold hands) the text message continuously scrolls from the back of one to the other…

When separated, the garents display a variety of texts and patterns independent of the other. The coatdress lists inventions by Canadians, alternating with stylized abstractions Of Canadiana. Similarly, the man’s jacket recounts Australian innovations and images from New South Wales. The content can be reconfigured, based on location or related to individual wearers.

The fabric is made of black linen yarns, woven in a traditional 2/2 twill pattern to give the fabrics a soft drape. Woven on a hand loom, the weave structure supports embedded Light Emitting Diodes and other electronic components. Conductive silver threads are woven alongside the linen yarns to create a flexible circuit. The fabrics are then cut and sewn to create the garments.

See the jackets in action here.


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