Oma Space Studio, Chloe Bensahel, and Amor Muñoz have been selected to participate in the the Jacquard by Google and Google Arts & Culture residency program, which aims to explore the yet undiscovered, creating new dialogue between technology and art by leveraging Jacquard technology into physical installations - that's not Jacquard the loom, by the way - but a new form of wearable technology, developed by Google.
Chloe Bensahel is a Franco-American artist who blends performance, traditional craft and multimedia to create large-scale installations that highlight immigrant narratives from past to present. Inspired by her own family history of migration, her work investigates how narration and material traditions create a collective culture. Bensahel’s project for this residency furthers her explorations of the shared space and meaning between text and textile. The artist will delve into the different cultural connotations and historical interpretations of ‘white’; as a concept, a colour, a tool or a gesture.
OMA Space, comprised of Jang Jiu, Daniel Kapelian and Gil Kyoung-young, is a creative studio specialised in textiles, based in Seoul, Korea, that creates garments and art & design. For this residency the OMA SPACE team has conceived the “Tree of Light”, a meditative walking experience that centres around a hanging pillar, a “Tree”, into which audience members enter never to return. A contemplative yet ritual experience, each person’s procession will be unique as they undergo a transformation that is both personal and universal. Reconnecting humans with their own self, using organic material and new tech, the Tree of Light opens a path to another state of mind.
Amor Muñoz is a Mexican visual artist, her work is characterised by an interest in linking art, technology and society. Her themes include social knowledge, mediation, and manual labour. Muñoz's project for this residency is an exploration into the processes of digital coding and handcrafting. She takes the complex pianola compositions by Conlon Nancarrow--product of a slow, manual and precise work--as reference. Her goal is to draw the parallel between craftsmanship and digital programming.
To read more about textile artists teaming up with new technologies, read Elizabeth Smith's article Soft Wear in the Launch issue.