2023 Bridges Conference Art Exhibition

Lisa Marks

Artists

Lisa Marks

Assistant Professor of Industrial Design

Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Lisa.marks@design.gatech.edu

http://www.lisamarks.com

Statement

As a professor and industrial designer, I combine craft and algorithmic design to explore how we can use parametrics and coding that allow direct engagement with mathematics embedded in the many skill-based crafts that are in danger of fading away. I use technological adaptations of traditional techniques to promote sustainable methods of production that help endangered craft communities. My work has been presented at design weeks in New York, Milan, and Bangkok and has recently won the 2019 International Grand Prix Lexus Design Award. I hold an MFA from Parsons School of Design and am currently an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Coded Overshot Weaving'

Coded Overshot Weaving

89.0 x 61.0 cm

cloth

2022

While weaving is based on a binary technique (either under or over), patterning can be quite complex through variations on three inputs: threading, treadling, and tie-up. Proficiency in complex weaving requires mastering many rules related to these inputs, which vary by tradition. This project analyzes the mathematics of overshot weaving; an abstraction of twill weaving, and uses interactive coding and algorithmic scripting to create randomized patterns that we then realize in the form of traditional weaving. These results illustrate the potential of computational craft to connect history and cultural identity to contemporary designers as we document and progress endangered craft methods.