DIS’23 Honorable Mention: Transmediating Sky Blanket

Exciting news! We were awarded an Honorable Mention for our DIS’23 pictorial “Transmediating Sky Blanket: Tensions with a Digital Jacquard Loom”. The paper is open access !

Abstract: This pictorial presents an ongoing collaboration between a Haida/Kwakwaka’wakw/Irish artist and a multi-disciplinary team of settler researchers around Sky Blanket, a hybrid Yeil Koowu (Raven’s Tail) and Naaxiin (Chilkat) style woven robe. We elaborate on our collaborative commitments that include a focus on materiality and particular team dynamics. We report on three frictions we experienced while working on a TC2 jacquard loom: the translation of weaving patterns from one production technique to another, working within the material limitations of the loom, and the design of a woven box that allowed us to articulate differing perspectives on failures. In our discussion, we argue that these material encounters are a way for design and creation research to work through tensions at play between digital technologies, artistic practices, and cultural continuities. With Doenja Oogjes, Meghann O’Brien, Hannah Turner, Kate Hennessy, Reese Muntean, and Melanie Camman, Our sincere thanks to the Material Matters Lab at Emily Carr University for supporting our work with the TC2 jacquard loom!