LIZA STARK

A collaborative effort by #wickedcommunity members to create a wearableMANIFESTO as a guide and reminder, not dogma, but a marker in time to capture the values that make the eTextile community at large weird and wonderful.

Technology is increasingly becoming woven into our daily clothing to enhance and augment our daily interactions. No longer just for performance tracking or medical uses, circuits will become embedded into the fabrics we use to shield and express ourselves. As larger companies adopt and refine eTextile techniques and as eTextiles become more mainstream, how can the broader eTextile community continue to innovate, to question, to push boundaries, to remain open, to be playful, to resist fast-paced production models and labor malpractices?

This vest/apron is our designed embodiment of the manifesto. Drawing inspiration from Google’s Project Jacquard, we sought to create a garment that would allow us to capture the attention of anyone on the street through its visually captivating capacitive sensor and its LED-matrix interface (not shown here) with the goal of prompting inquiry about the garment. This intervention opens an opportunity for exchange about the role of technology on the body, specific products on the market, and the option for the inquirer to learn how to make their own. The wearer can easily transform the vest into an apron that contains all the tools needed to run an impromptu workshop on how to create their own capacitive sensor. If the inquirer shows continued interest, the wearer can send them to a digital space documenting how to make their own vest and share this knowledge with others. The vest/apron design is simple and customizable, and its production creates little to no waste as it is made from a rectangle.

Principles

DIVERSITY

• “plurafunctionality”
• inclusiveness, accessibility, empathy
• a willingness to engage with everyone
• open to different ways of doing things
• our design is simple to understand, copy and customize
• there is no exact copy, every one is different and all of them belong

CARE

• we care about our environment, we notice what remains
• our design produces zero waste

SHARE

• knowledge is power
• transparent design spreads power evenly among those who can see
• open source, knowledge sharing….



COMMUNITY

• as individuals we crave community



EVER CHANGING

• our design evolves every time somebody remakes it
• we do not resist change, we do not conserve energy, we expend it to fuel
• everything changes and nothing stands still (Heraclitus)
• copy-improve-feedback



ALTERNATIVES

• stay flexible
• use of materials so they could be sourced locally



WICKED PROBLEMS

• capacitive sensing on the body is a wicked problem
• dealing with complex power structures



STAY WEIRD

• not everything has to have a reason
• defy disciplines, standards, authority, boxes
• resist being cornered
• humor, self reflection, inner resistance, resistance to my inner resistance, and other convoluted inner
• knotted manifold problems…



Credits

Developed by Admar Schoonen, Beam Contrechoc, Celine Marq, Hannah Perner-Wilson, Lara Grant, Liza Stark, Rachel Freire, and Zoe Romano.