Material Codes: Ephemeral Traces
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ARCHIVE: PASSWORD

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Submitted code (click to enlarge): Password
Submission Title: Password
Submitted by: Audrey Samson
Participant’s field of work/interest: Multidisciplinary artist-researcher

Participant’s Image Description:
"I was thinking of passwords. Passwords are encrypted and the translation of the image (or in this case text) into binary woven format could be a form of encryption. A binary equivalent of a passwords might resemble: 1000100100011110101010010010101010111000100101010101010."
 
Original Dimensions: N/A

Translated and Woven by Sophia Borowska
 


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Pointcarré weaving simulation (click to enlarge).

Translation to Weaving

After discussing some different options for translating binary code through weaving, Audrey Samson ended up sending in a string of two lines of code. Each sequence had eight digits (bits) and I noted that the punch cards from Lisio academy in Italy functioned on groups of eight as well. We agreed that creating a woven punch card would be an interesting reference to binary code and Jacquard weaving’s original shared method of information storage.
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Weaving Structures - click to access full set of structures - available to WDRG members only.

Technique and Process Notes

I made the illustration for the punch cards and input Samson’s own binary code data by drawing and filling in circles on the cards. To recreate the sense of a punch-card as a physical object that is both interchangeable and reversible, I made the woven punch-card with weft-faced linen on each side, to resemble cardboard and have the piece be double-sided. I set up the file with four wefts and two warps, but wove with just one of each. The linen is in a long satin double-weave, and the holes are in a tight structure using the opposite warp, giving them an indented effect.

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Colour reduction for weaving design (click to enlarge).

Outcome notes

The piece successfully resembles a punch card, although some “lazy threads” on the warp left a couple mistakes and missed stitches. The second piece, which was woven with a stitched double weave instead of the pocket double-weave used for the first, turned out more evenly. However, the textural contrast (between the satin-weave cardboard and the plainweave holes) is more pronounced in the first one.

Number of Picks: 760
 
Woven Dimensions: 27” x 5.5”
 
Weaving Density:  138 ppi
 
Threads Used: Warp is white 2/16 mercerized cotton and black 2/16 mixed fibre. Wefts are 2/8 linen and  black 2/16 mixed fibre.



Images of Final Woven Sample


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FRONT (ABOVE), BACK (BELOW).
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FRONT (DETAIL) - click to enlarge
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BACK (DETAIL) - click to enlarge
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