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I'll make a big, yellow tapestry. In the project I'll examine textures and surfaces in a monumental tapestry, and the translation of an image into a tapestry through reliefs and materials. I'm a tapestry weaver, and in this project I'll work with structures and the sculptural aspect of weaving in an abstract tapestry. My aim for my textiles in general is to give the viewer a sublime feeling when they meet my work. In an extended scene this is a textile version of a photography. When I look at something for a long amount of time, it'll turn into structures, then the image itself is not so important anymore but the memory of it. This is a tapestry where I have turned this memories into structures in textile material. This project is a research in many various woven structures and techniques, which is arranged intuitively. It doesn't have a specific message but to re-create the sense of many and complex feelings. The different structures portrays the process of memories, like solitude, fears, tenderness, abstraction/imagination and concrete reality. This tapestry is the result of many experiments with the form and structure.

This is a research project by practice, which firstly develops a new material invention derived from natural fibres extracted from waste pineapple leaves; secondly it articulates the contemporary designer’s role in facilitating sustainable solutions through: Insights from my own material invention, PiñatexTM, which integrates the materiality of design with the immateriality of concepts and values Developing a visual model of mapping I began with these questions: ‘What are the challenges in seeking to make a new and sustainable material from the waste products of pineapple agriculture in the Philippines?’ and ‘How can a design practice link elements of materiality (artifacts) with immaterial elements (value systems) in order to improve sustainable social and economic development?’ Significant influences have been the work of Papanek1 (2003), Hawken2 (1999) and Abouleish3 (2008) and in particular the ethical business model initiated by McDonough and Braungart in Cradle to Cradle®4 (2002). My own research project is inspired by the Cradle to Cradle® model. It proposes the development of a new material, PiñatexTM which is derived from natural fibres extracted from waste pineapple leaves and could be used in a wide variety of products that are currently fabricated in leather or petroleum-based materials. The methods have comprised: Contextual reviews; case studies (SEKEM, Cradle to Cradle® and Gawad Kalinga); practical experiments in the field of natural fibres, chemistry, product development, manufacturing and prototyping, leading to an invention and a theoretical model of mapping. In addition, collaboration has taken place across scientific, technological, social, ecological, academic and business fields. The outcome is a new material based on the synchronicity between the pineapple fibres, polymers, resins and coatings specially formulated. The invention of the new material that I developed as a central part of this research by practice has a patent in the national phase (PCT/GB 2011/000802) and is in the first stages of manufacturing, commercial testing and further design input (Summer 2014). The contribution to knowledge is firstly the material, PiñatexTM, which exhibits certain key qualities, namely environmentally non-toxic, biodegradable, income-generating potential and marketability. This is alongside its intrinsic qualities as a textile product: aesthetic potential, durability and stability, which will make it suitable for the accessories, interiors and furnishing markets. The theoretical mapping system Upstream and Downstream forms a secondary contribution.

The work presented in this thesis is a first attempt investigating a new field, exploring the visual effects of movement using light as a continuous time-based medium. Composing over time, temporal patterns - in Textile Design is a practice based research project that investigates the following research question: What does it mean, if time and change – constant movement – becomes part of the textile design expression? The research question has been investigated in a number of experiments that explore the visual effects of movement using light integrated into textile structures as a medium. Thereby, the textile design pattern reveals its composition, not in one moment of time any more, but in fact over time. This thesis aims to create time-based textiles with an emphasis on developing aesthetics of movement – or to establish movement as an aesthetic moment in textile design. Two distinct groups of experiments, colour flow and rhythm exercise, explore a range of different time-based expressions. The experiments have been displayed and explored using woven and braided textile structures which have been construct mainly through the integration of PMMA optical fibres. Through the design processes a first platform and understanding about time as a design material has been developed, which allows composing time-based patterns in light design. New design variables, notions and tools have been defined and established. The achieved new expressions will hopefully lead to discussions on and envisioning of future textiles, opening up the general perception of what textiles are supposed to be like, to show, to express etc., i.e. expands notions of what it means to read a piece of textile work. / <p>Editor: Lars Hallnäs (LHS), Swedish School of Textiles</p>

This research acknowledges that the convenience of fast fashion has shifted dependence on skills such as dressmaking, repairing and altering, passed from one generation to the next. Because of the accessible and affordable nature of mass manufacture the consumer is becoming less active within the design, production and maintenance of their clothing. This research proposes to up-skill consumers and intercepts their flow of fast fashion consumption using textile design interventions. These explore how textile design processes can be combined with social media tools to support a renaissance of making through four different concepts to empower consumer participation. The Textile Design Interventions demonstrate accessible processes of making and aim to broaden engagement. The democratic ethos of the interventions also enables agency to evolve beyond orchestrated interactions. Through evaluating the process of designing, developing and demonstrating textile design interventions a new proposition emerged titled ‘e-­Co-­Textile Design’. This model demonstrates how social and digital media can provide a vehicle for textile designers to facilitate participatory experiences. Fast fashion, both in terms of the product and activity, challenges the concept of sustainability. This research positions textile design interventions from outside the fashion system as a means of achieving more sustainable consumer activity, through longer-­term consideration and connectivity toward fast fashion purchases. This is achieved by making accessible new-found skills and resources via social media. Future research requires a longitudinal study to evaluate the impact from the consumer’s perspective.

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<p> The costume design for the physical theatre piece <i> Elements</i> uses juxtaposition of the &lsquo;human&rsquo; clothing with that of the natural &lsquo;elements&rsquo; to reinforce the premise of an empty, mechanical world where the void echoes with meaningless routine and two people perform the motions of life without noticing one another until nature interferes. The constructed world is a normal, everyday human existence, and the crisp, tidy office wear worn by the two &lsquo;human&rsquo; characters, Sally and Avi, reflects this. In contrast, the costumes for the ensemble representing the elements of air, earth, fire, and water are approached from a figurative perspective, playing with texture achieved through Shibori dyeing techniques to give each actor characteristics of more than one natural element at a time. The tension between the cardboard-cutout world of the humans and the natural world is visually reflected through textural contrasts and asymmetrical silhouettes. </p>