Through analyzing tapestry, fiber and textile art works done by contemporary artists and craftspeople, this paper delves into themes of embodiment and embracing or resisting modern technology to innovate crafts and sustain know-how.
Long abstract
In today's digital and AI-driven landscape, craftspeople are increasingly engaging with digital looms, 3D printing, digital knitting machines using knitting software, leveraging technologies over traditional analog methods turning artisans into part-human, part-machine entities, echoing Donna Haraway’s "Cyborg Manifesto" (1985). The increasing availability and popularity of digital tools have inspired artists like Kustaa Saksi, Hussein Shikha and Faig Ahmed to create tapestries using digital technologies. However, others advocate for other approaches, preferring to hold onto hand-made and analog practices, either partially or entirely such as fiber artists Bram van Breda, Sonya Clark, Rowlands Ricketts and Diedrick Brackens. This paper argues that what appears to be completely devoid of digital elements often has some digital aspects tucked away, and vice versa. This interplay makes textile and fiber art incredibly hybrid and packed with surprising narratives that reveal the full integration of digital tools within analog craft practices. This paper explores and analyses digital and semi-digital crafts people’s work and tools they employ. It also investigates how a digitally dominated world fosters alternative methods of resistance and counternarratives. Through analyzing tapestry, fiber and textile art works done by contemporary artists and craftspeople, this paper delves into themes of embodiment and embracing or resisting modern technology to innovate crafts and sustain know-how.