Writing a code of universal empathy
The light touch
Choi trained in computer programing and digital media. His interest in the magic of warp and weft was stirred after meeting e-textile practitioners. Tasked with curating the Interweaving Poetic Code show, Choi had approached friends and collaborators from diverse fields and not necessarily with a textile background. For instance, the architect Andreas Angelidakis created a series of foam and printed vinyl seating modules of varied shapes and sizes, inspired by the humble bobbin. The colors are loud and cheerful. The patterns echo the binary code.
For a show that seems to want to showcase the synergies between complicated, and in some ways antithetical, ideas of textiles and computers, the tone has been kept delightfully light. Sound artist Christine Sun Kim, for instance, has created 20 charcoal sketches, creating a sense of linear progression in the display, on the lines of a comic strip. According to the artist, the images are variations on the idea of the future - represented by two semi-circles joined at the base but facing away from each other. The symbol of future goes through several mutations in successive images, with fun captions providing a hint on what they might suggest.