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Martha’s Hat

or, how I came to Martha’s Hat

A report by Hannah Perner-Wilson

In January 2022, I received an email from the Women’s Officer of the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch Berlin, describing an initial idea for the exhibition “Women with Names but Unknown”. Attached was a photo of Martha Koysela from 1918, with the invitation to produce a creative impulse for the exhibition.

I didn’t have to look at the photo for long to know that I wanted to find out more about Martha’s hat. I didn’t think I could really find her hat, but I thought I could try to find out as much as I could about it as a means to finding out more about Martha.

I don’t know anything about hats. A quick internet search for “ 920’s pot-shaped hat with fluffy stripes” yielded no results, so I didn’t try any further. Instead, I went to a few second-hand vintage clothing shops in Friedrichshain. On the one hand, I hoped I might find something similar that could offer me a clue via the hat’s brand/manufacturer. But I also had the photo of Martha with me to show the shop assistants, and ask them if they could tell me more about Martha’s hat. The only information I got, was that the hat was probably made of felt. This lead me to the traditional shop Kleemann Hüte in the Schönhauser Allee, which was founded in 1905 and has been run by the fashion designer Doreen Persche since 1998. Doreen was able to confirm from the photo that the basic hat was a pot shape, and probably made of brushed felt. The fluffy lines were heron feathers that were stitched down along their spine. As soon as she said this, I could recognise the fluff as a feather, but before that the thought had never occurred to me. Unfortunately Doreen could not tell me who might have made such a hat, how much it might have cost at the time. Nor who would have worn such a hat, and on which occasions…

After the visit to Kleemann Hüte I went to the University to select some props for a course from the theatre repository, when I noticed several old hat boxes on a shelf. Out of curiosity I opened one of them to see if there was anything inside. It was empty. The next box was also empty and the next one too, but maybe Martha’s hat would be in one of those boxes. My knees went weak. I would certainly have to sit down. If I were to find her hat, then I could then look at it up close, examine it. I put it on. I fits me!
I see that they are not heron feathers after all, but optic fibres! As someone who works with textiles and electronics, I am well aware that in Martha’s time, quirky glow-in-the-dark accessories were in fashion. Like this glow-in-the-dark hat.
The batteries have dried up, but I replace them and the fibres flicker. Who was Martha wat she would have worn such a hat for this photo, but did not turn it on? Maybe the batteries had run dry. Maybe she thought it was prettier without electricity. Maybe it was a message she wanted to send. That new achievements do not necessarily make life more beautiful. But maybe the hat was also just too bright for the photographic film back then. One new achievement drives another. On and on. I think Martha was a very elegant person with a critical sense of humour.

In February I caught Corona and was quarantined for 7 days. Stupidly, I had left Martha’s hat connected to the modern power bank. When I returned to university 7 days later, the battery was flat and the optic light fibres had grown! I can’t explain it, but I’m not even tempted to try, since I’ve long departed from reality.

original German text

Martha’s Hut

oder, wie ich zu Martha’s Hut kam

Ein Bericht von Hannah Perner-Wilson

Im Januar 2022 habe ich eine Email von der Frauenbeauftragen der HfS bekommen, mit einer ersten Idee für die Ausstellung “Frauen mit Namen aber Unbekannt”. Im Anhang war ein Photo von Martha Koysela aus 1918, mit der Einladung hierzu einen gestalterischen Impuls für die Ausstellung zu Verfassen.

Ich musste das Photo nicht lange anschauen um zu wissen, dass ich mehr über Martha’s Hut herausfinden wollte. Ich dachte nicht, dass ich ihren Hut wirklich finden könnte, aber ich dachte ich könnte versuchen so viel wie möglich darüber herauszufinden. Um auf Umwegen womöglich auch mehr über Martha zu erfahren.

Ich kenne mich mit Hüten gar nicht aus. Eine schnelle Internet Recherche nach “1920 Hut Topf-Form mit flauschigen Streifen” lieferte so gar keine Ergebnisse, dass ich es auch nicht weiter versucht habe. Stadt dessen hab ich mich auf den Weg gemacht in einige Secondhand Vintage Kleiderläden in Friedrichshain. Einerseits mit der Hoffnung ich könnte vielleicht irgendetwas ähnliches entdecken, und dann über Marke/Hersteller einen weiteren Anhaltspunkt finden. Aber auch hatte ich das Photo von Martha mit, um den VerkäuferInnen zu zeigen und sie zu befragen ob sie mir anhand dessen mehr über einen solchen Hut sagen könnten. Die einzige Information, die ich mehrfach bekam war, dass der Hut wahrscheinlich aus Filz sei. Zumindest führte mich diese Spur weiter zu dem Traditionsgeschäft Kleemann Hüte in der Schönhauser Allee, das 1905 gegründet wurde und seit 1998 von der Modistin Doreen Persche weitergeführt wird. Doreen konnte mir anhand des Photos bestätigen, dass der Basis Hut eine Topf-Form sei, und wahrscheinlich aus gebürstetem Filz gezogen. Die Flauschigen Linien wären aufgenähte Reiher-feder. Sobald sie das gesagt hat, konnte ich den Flausch auch als Feder erkennen, aber davor war mir der Gedanke nie gekommen. Aber leider konnte mir Doreen nicht sagen wer einen solchen Hut vielleicht hergestellt hätte, wie viel er zu der zeit vielleicht gekostet hätte. Wer einen solchen Hut, zu welchen Anlässen getragen hätte…

Nach dem Besuch bei Kleemann Hüte, war ich Nachmittags an der HfS um im Fundus Requisiten auszusuchen für einen Kurs, da fielen mir mehrere alte Hutboxen in einem Regal auf. Aus Neugierde machte ich eine davon auf um zu sehen ob was drinnen war. Sie war leer. Die nächste Box war auch leer und die nächste auch, aber vielleicht wäre Martha‘s Hut in einer dieser Boxen. Meine Knie wurden ganz weich. Ich müsste mich bestimmt hinsetzen. Ich könnte ihren Hut dann ganz aus der Nähe betrachten. Ich setze ihn auf. Er passt mir!
Ich sehe, dass es doch keine Reiher-feder sind, sondern Leuchtfaseren! Als jemand, die mit Textilien und Elektronik arbeitet, ist mir wohl bewusst, dass genau zu Martha‘s Zeit, skurrile leucht-Accessoires in Mode waren. Wie eben auch dieser leuchtender Hut.
Die Batterien sind schon ausgetrocknet, aber ich ersetze sie, und die Fasern flimmern. Wer war Martha, dass sie sich für dieses Photo einen Solchen Hut aufgesetzt hatte, aber diesen nicht eingeschaltet hatte? Vielleicht waren damals die Batterien schon alle. Vielleicht fand sie ihn schöner ohne Strom. Vielleicht war es eine Botschaft, die sie damit senden wollte. Das neue Errungenschaften das Leben nicht unbedingt schöner machen. Aber vielleicht war der Hut einfach auch zu hell für den Photofilm damals. Eine neue Errungenschaft, treibt die andere weiter. Immer weiter.Ich denke Martha war eine sehr elegante Person mit kritischem Humor.

Im Februar erwischt es mich mit Corona, und ich bin ganze 7 tage in Quarantäne. Blöderweise hatte ich Martha’s Hut eingeschaltet gelassen an die moderne Powerbank. Wie ich wieder auf die Uni kann, ist die Batterie leer, und die Leuchtfasern sind gewachsen! Ich kann es mir nicht erklären. Aber ich versuche es auch nicht, denn von der Wirklichkeit habe ich mich schon längst entfernt.

Making-of

Photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72177720297630698/with/51965530884/

Many thanks to:

Vanessa for sending me Martha’s photo and inviting me to create something for the exhibition “Frauen Mit Namen aber Unbekannt”, to Doreen at Kleeman Hüte für replicating the base felt hat shape from the photo, to Maurin Donneaud for sending me bundles of sandblasted optic fibres from our Lulu project!

Spaghettimonster >> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=9137
Bandsalat >> https://github.com/clockdiv/Spaghettimonster/

Sensitive Puppets >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713930789442

Monstersalat >> https://www.plusea.at/?p=7201

< a song for bela >

i’ve been documenting
all my life in dark black ink

you’ve been capturing me
all this while in your fiberous means

we’ve been collaborating
for so long that i failed to see

now we’re discussing
how to continue this beautiful thing

all the things that we make
we make in order to communicate
stories we want to tell
the ones that he doesn’t know so well

he’s been struggling
fifteen years to manage his team

they’re developing
a tool for us to make beautiful things

soon they’re releasing
the version that includes 3D things

all the things that they make
they make in order to communicate
stories they want to tell
the ones that she does not know so well

she’s been crocheting
late at night that her eyes are dim

surrounded by things that she likes
her hands love playing with fibers and spikes

all the things that she makes
she makes in order to communicate
stories she wants to tell
the ones that you don’t know so well

you’ve been jumping
up and and up and up and down

with every leap that you take
you transport us to a super soft space

all the things that you make
you make in order to communicate
stories you want to tell
the ones that i don’t know so well

my longest running unfinished idea.

JOY SLIPPERS (2007)
>> http://www.joyslippers.plusea.at/

WIRELESS JOY SLIPPERS
>> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=565

SCONIC INSOLES
>> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=6927

SOLE SENSING
>> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=8305

SOFT WALK SOCKS (2021)
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157718580873631

mask option 1:


mask option 2:


mask option 3:


Initial sketches for the masks:

tucked away under the shade of a tree, The Headless Pin Tattoo Studio is open to all, and always hiring. come by and let us temporarily tattoo you with a design that captures your current project. while we work on you, lay back, relax, tell us about your practice. what are you making? why are you making? open up to us, tell us more, what ideas are you chasing? what ideas are chasing you?

to us makers/hackers the world is a malleable place, full of materials and tools that we can use to realize our ideas and shape our surroundings. but what about how we are equally remade in our collaborations with other materials?
if our tools and materials could talk, what stories would they tell of “our” making?

in the summer of 2021 a small group of humans headed to PIFcamp to tattoo people’s projects as stories of their making.

: tattoo artists :
https://leonivoegelin.com/
https://rodolfoacostacastro.github.io/
https://www.jannenorakummer.de/
https://julianjungel.de/
https://www.plusea.at/

she’s been storytelling

he’s been navigating

she’s been jumping

she’s been imagining

she’s been drawing

he’s been breathing

he’s been ferminting

she’s been hurting

he’s been listening

she’s been sending

she’s been wanting

more photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157719753897571
pifcamp >> https://pif.camp/tattoostales-from-the-making/

S01E01 steel and wool fibers

S01E02 metal wrapped threads

see also our post on Meet the Mateirals of Electronic Textiles >> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=8012

mask option 1:


mask option 2:


mask option 3:


Initial sketches for the masks:

see also:
LEVEL1_THE REMAKE >> https://www.plusea.at/?p=6605
under the influence >> https://www.plusea.at/?p=6887
this level was designed as part of Authren

general documentation photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157717095909521

DOWNLOADS_

instruction booklet >>
gameboard for print >> http://plusea.at/downloads/games/MaterialAdventures/MaterialAdventures_L2/_MAboard_L2_v2_printA4.pdf
gameboard full >>

THE GAMEBOARD VERSIONS_

PLAYS_

28.1.2021 in Authren
“kennst du das wenn der raum so authred?”
“do you know that when the room goes so authred?”>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157717095909521

Born out of the social distancing restrictions we are practicing to delay the spread of the corona virus, this hands-on workshop-turned board-game, is an attempt to teach via a minimum of video-call screen-time and a maximum of working “alone” with the materials of electronics. Kits are distributed to all participants and a game board leads through the week. But, not only is the tool-set of this workshop shaped by the current situation, the workshop content itself is looking to explore different ways of creating social connections and experiences over distance.

LINKS

The Boardgame as Remote Teaching Tool?
I wrote about my process of turning a workshop about networked spaces, titled “From Space to Space”, into a boardgame.

Workshop page:
>> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=8182

Code:
>>https://github.com/plusea

NO screens:
>> http://hyperdramatik.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=From_Space_to_Space

Photos:
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157714020698126

We will use network technology to SEND MESSAGES over the internet. On either end of this digital connection we are going to imagine and prototype devices that TRANSLATE these electrically encoded messages into analog/physical/material INTERACTIONS and ACTIONS.

Basically we will use SENSORS to capture and translate our physical bodily interactions with the world into electronic signals. Use arduino to translate these analog signals into digital messages. Encode these messages in the MQTT PROTOCOL and make use of the amazing network infrastructure that is THE INTERNET to PUBLISH these messages to a BROKER so others can SUBSCRIBE to them, translate them back into into physical actions by means of electronic ACTUATORS.

What is it that we will sense&&send and then receive&do with this technical setup?
This will be the most fun, experimental and challenging part of the workshop. In order to explore, we will prototype our ideas so that we can observe first-hand the kinds of social experiences we have through the network.

#noscreens is a provocation to get us thinking beyond the visual ways we so readily communicate over networks these days.

“What can be gained by learning to express yourself through the creation of personal games in uncertain times?”

Photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157714247579186

Week 1

My interest in this course?
3 reasons:
1) recently turning my hands-on materials workshops into boardgames.
2) during a games residency last year i got an idea for a game about “becoming material” that i would really like to make!
3) curious to be on the receiving end of a workshop, and to be in contact with people interested in games & play as fun and meaningful ways of sharing ideas.

1) The Boardgame as Remote Teaching Tool?
The last weeks I’ve been turning my otherwise hands-on materials of electronics workshops into boardgames that students can play with the materials. Resulting in less screen-time and more time to focus on the materials at hand. I’m calling them Making Adventures.
And have tried to write a bit about the process of making these games on our university blog: “The Boardgame as Remote Teaching Tool?“.

2) Every project begins with a walk in the woods
Last year I spent one month at a Game Residency playing games, discovering what I like, and thinking a lot about how to translate my current ideas into a playful experience. I learned to use Unity and made some character animations, scripted some movements and built some worlds… I was impressed by how easy it was to get classic game behaviors to work and the level of control I had over the aesthetics. While I really liked the idea that I could export whatever I would make to run on everyday devices and be able to share my idea with many people, I was also put off by the screen-based nature of these devices. One month was too short to finish a game, but I have a strong sense for the story/experience I want to tell and some ideas on how to continue….

Week 2 Marie Flanagan: A Kind of Play

zine that lead through the 2 hour session and was both means of sharing knowledge and getting us to put to paper ideas that could lead us to a personal game.

Homework/Assignment
1) pick an idea or topic from the list you made last week (or a pre-existing idea)
2) take 15 minutes to write or draw in your zine about your idea. Doodle or write a little about the core feelings and playful mechanics you might consider
3) take 5 minutes to write out the steps you might take to make a game. what key things need to get done?

1) my personal game idea?

After completing Marie’s zine, I was a bit torn between thinking further some of the new ideas that emerged and keeping with a pre-existing idea. But am now deciding that I will stick to my previous idea of Becoming Material. The origins of which came from a very personal experience – a rather strange accident!
You can read about it here: Becoming Material.

2) core feelings and playful mechanics?

feelings:
*joy* in collecting interesting looking materials/things (like seashells on a beach)
*intense focus* during a period of making things with the collected materials
*surprise* when something happens to make one realize that one is also a material

mechanics:
* somehow collecting materials
* somehow building
* the twist/realization/surprise that everything is not quite as it seems…

3) what key things need to get done?

* decide on a format, type of play, type of game? combinations?

* decide on an interface?
i would like the game-play (interface?) to be physical/material and involve being in the world, not in front of a computer&screen….

some ideas to get more physical:
** use a microscope as interface. looking through the scope at a part real, part virtual world. using the knobs on the scope to navigate or control a character through terrain, through the story.
** the game takes place in different parts/levels. one part is a screen-based game other parts include guided tour, making-workshops, walks through woods in search of materials…
** use camera tracking/recognition and drawing black lines on white paper as interface or making objects to have certain shapes….
** using camera to take high-contrast black/white images that then become the worlds one plays in.

*TITLE? subtitle… something in support of the core/key surprising/twisting moment….
** becoming material (we already are material)
** humans are forgetful materials
** the headless pin
** a walk in the woods

Week 3 Lorenzo: Tools

tools for making and sharing visual games.

notes:

Homework/Assignment
Make a small game
Can be just one room big and be playable in 2 minutes
Theme: Breakfast
How you like breakfast, why you have no breakfast, what do you do during breakfast, Sunday breakfast, the Breakfast Club
Tool: Bitsy
If you tried Bitsy before and want to try out a new tool that’s ok
Put it on itch.io
You can set it to not public, but you should share it with us

breakfast game idea:

breakfast games:

in bitsy…
i tried making a prototype of the game in bitsy and was really impressed by the playful-simple-selfexplanatory-constrained interface. quick and inspiring to use! especially love how the 2-frame animation is done.
but i could not befriend the graphics style…..
and the limits it put on my ideas for interacting with things….

Feeding Hunger (Bitsy) >> https://plusea.itch.io/feeding-hunger

in processing…
so then i continued in processing.

Feeding Hunger (Processing) >> https://plusea.itch.io/feeding-hunger-processing

first prototypes the movement and behavior:

then added in the illustrations and text:

here screenshots of the final version:

here the material illustrations:

the other idea that emerged:

lines
drawing writing making controlling navigating tracing walking going following leaving talking speaking saying
lines

inspired by this note from my game residency:

maybe the electrons can also travel through the lines:

my line attempts in processing:

and of course it has been more nicely and properly by somebody else who has shared their code (thank you!):

generative-gestaltung >> http://www.generative-gestaltung.de/2/
http://www.generative-gestaltung.de/2/sketches/?01_P/P_2_2_6_05
http://www.generative-gestaltung.de/2/sketches/?01_P/P_2_3_3_01
http://www.generative-gestaltung.de/2/sketches/?01_P/P_3_1_2_01

so am already looking forward to my next attempts!

Week 4 Bahiyya Khan: Personal Games – A horror story in three parts

Bahiyya shared in detail all that surrounded making her personal game After Hours. Besides the act of exposing a personal topic and being so involved in the process of producing and enacting the content, I took a lot from the creative journey/struggle that she shared. Her presentation brought me back to the actually personal experience behind the layers of story that grew around my own personal game idea.

But how exactly to unpack and the personal behind the Becoming Material idea…..

Some good tips on free writing……

Some attempts to

Getting (distracted?) building some sensor insoles to control my game….

Sole Sensing >> https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=8305
Photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157714365556578

Week 5 Our Personal Game Presentations

BecomingMaterialV2

on p5:
>> https://editor.p5js.org/plusea/full/U-ovyOgz2

on openProcessing:
>> https://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/909639/

Controlling

“What do art and medicine have in common? How can an investigation of the inner-workings of our bodies and its depictions in early art/anatomy/medicine dialogues inform our view of the current state of the world, our own art practice, and our selves?”

Photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713887712846

Week 1

notes from the first meeting

Pay attention to a part of your body that you rarely observe.
Maybe because it is out of sight. Use a mirror or a camera to be able to see it. Observe and draw it over time and see if you can observe change.

many ideas for things to try
not only WHAT to observe but also HOW to draw to observe
tools i could use

to draw on the body and use photography to expose the drawing

tracing lines that are already there

playing with exposure
to expose just the lines

a digital microscope to view the ink on the skin up close

[imgs]

placing my hair on a sheet of paper and using it to draw with

drawing a part of my body that i am currently fascinated with
because it will also soon produce material

Week 2

I. Adopt a curious natural object throughout these next 4 weeks
II. Observe and document your object from life as a way of getting to know your object. Work from the outside- inside. It is advised to start by drawing your object from life, however, you can use the medium of your choice as you go along if you think it will convey other aspects of the object or it will help you understand its form and function better
III. Dissect/deconstruct it and document with your material of choice

i want to get to know the tress of berlin
maybe first the horse chestnut tree because it’s seeds are conkers
and i like them

so i walk around berlin looking at the trees
amazed that i know so little about these massive plants that are all around me

trying to make sense of what i am seeing
different kinds of trunks and bark
leaves and blossoms
branching patterns
and smells

collecting some parts of the tress because i want to get to know them
feeling guilty about picking fresh green leaves
weighting the importance of my knowing against their growing

pressing the leaves to preserve them

cleaning and keeping the seeds dry

observing differences in shape

sitting down to draw
hesitant to dissect

preferring to explore with my senses
of sight

of touch
and pressure

and imagination

// other sensations to explore:
temperature
texture
use other body parts (not hands and fingertips) to feel the conker with

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

The following is an attempt to turn this experience and interest into an overview of ways of capturing process…

>>>>>> WORK IN PROGRESS >>>>>

READINGS
Lists draw things together and allow us to forge connections between divergent items, placing them under a logic that is all our own. This seemed to be what so fascinated Sontag about the form. By making lists, she wrote, ‘I perceive value, I confervalue, I create value, I even create—or guarantee—existence.’4 This is strong language from someone not prone to exaggeration. — List Cultures
>> https://assets.ctfassets.net/4wrp2um278k7/1gro2K2Ya4uK4Ys4Ac0aog/ef412a19c441847ee2adb660131922c0/9789048530670_-_Look_Inside.pdf

You are working on a project and want not only to document the outcome of your process, but also capture the journey of the process itself?
This post is an attempt at collecting ideas for how to go about doing
this.

A process journal can take many forms, most important is to start
collecting things as soon as possible and to simply do so continuously.
The act of capturing your process should not necessarily be much extra
work, though in the beginning it can take effort to make it routine.

DECISIONS

Some decisions you will need to make before getting started:

A NAME

The name of your process journal need not be the same as your project
title or your working title. But it can be.

If your project is called ‘’’From Dirt to Control’’’ then you could call
your process:
Making-of: From Dirt to Control
From Dirt to Control (behind the scenes)
Process-journal: From Dirt to Control
You could also choose something generic like:
Process #001
Process 2020/04/15
Or:
Exploring Dirt and Control
A Research into Dirt and Control
Your options are limitless…

It can be very motivating to pick a title that you like, so do take some
time to think about something. But also don’t take too long. You can
always change it later…

FORMAT(S)

What kind of *stuff* will you be doing, making, thinking? Will you be
sketching, writing, making physical models, 3D models, collecting links,
bibliographies, taking pictures, videos, audio recordings…… You can
choose one or many formats, and you can change/adjust to what works best
for the process as the project develops.

PLATFORM(S)

If you choose to make your process public, then you should find a
platform, or platforms for publishing your format to. These days, The
Internet is the place all things end up…. and there are many platforms
to use, ranging from making your own blog or website or using a photo or
video service.

Here are a list of tools that you could consider: >>
http://hyperdramatik.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Websites

PRIVATE <————> PUBLIC

How private or public do you want it to be? At least for the start,
since you can change this later.

Advantages of keeping it private

– if you are not used to sharing so much of yourself and your process,
then this might make it easier for you *to be yourself not judge
what you share and what not.

Advantages of making it public

– other people will see your process as it is unfolding and have a
change to comment and exchange ideas with you.
– knowing that other people will see what you are doing might motivate
you to post regular content and become more and more diligent about
capturing more and more detail.
– knowing that other people are looking, might also force you to parse
things before you share them, this being a moment for you to see and
reflect on what you are doing.

FINDING ROUTINE?

Finding/making a routine of capturing your process is not easy and
should not be underestimated. In the beginning you have to
manage/balance try different FORMATS and PLATFORMS while also forcing
yourself to stick to something for at least a while to see the results.
For some it works to simply capture and document live (in real-time)
along the way.
Others like to set aside some time each day to write-up, photograph or
record a video.
And others prefer to do it once a week.

HOW CREATIVE CAN I BE?

Definitely BE CREATIVE and experimental about capturing your process!
It depends on how important the process documentation is, and what you
want to get out of it. Is it simply to show others your journey from
start to end? Is it a reflective tool for yourself to observe your
process and learn how you work. Is it a creative act in itself to be
investigating your creative process in order to turn it into a process
of its own? Think about these things in order to weigh and decide how
much you think you should be spending on this part of your process.

EXAMPLES

Stream of Consciousness

Simply writing or collecting notes together into a long chunk of text in
order to capture the development of thoughts.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48280073071_0da5d60e2d.jpg

Writing Letters

And publishing them on twitter with a hashtag #dearFutureKobaCustomer:
>> https://twitter.com/hashtag/dearFutureKobaCustomer?src=hashtag_click
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157703356103685
https://live.staticflickr.com/7877/32496146177_ed6008eef1_c.jpg

Collecting Samples & Taking Notes

Collecting samples and taking notes and then, at various points in the
process, arranging them on a large surface in various orderings in order
to look back on what one has made.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7895/47438075691_a6d72ffbdc_b.jpg
Using stop-motion animation to show the unfolding of the process:
video >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu36vtVU6FA&feature=emb_logo

Mind-maps

Use pen&paper or a software tool to arrange your thinking in a mind-map.

Diagramming

Taking the time to illustrate your ideas as diagrams. These can be
updated/remade over time to show a progression in thought.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5087/5283342391_9a6daa35e5_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2854/33432374485_22fe63aa40.jpg

KNOLLING

>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sachs_(artist)#Knolling
>>
https://theultralinx.com/2013/09/50-amazing-examples-knolling-photography/
https://theultralinx.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_500/MTI5MDI2MzE0NTkzMzY1OTg2/tumblr_mn9b2esdjo1qzcumdo1_500.webp

https://live.staticflickr.com/7826/46452827405_7ed954f73d_c.jpg

Using markings to indicate extra information:
https://live.staticflickr.com/7700/17205041347_a4838f61b5_c.jpg

EXPLOSION

Todd Mclellan – Things come apart
>> https://www.toddmclellan.com

Their sequence depends on a bewildering number of factors (2016)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=5744
Anatomy of a Pin (2016) >> http://www.plusea.at/?p=5774

Hacking the Wild (2016)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=5373
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157650592167875

How To Make (almost) Anything (2009)

http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/863.09/people/hannah/index.html

Tilt Sensing Quilt (2010)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=430

Eight Steps (2010)

>> http://www.kobakant.at/?p=36

A Kit-of-No-Parts (2010/11)

website >> http://kit-of-no-parts.at/?category_name=recipes
thesis >> http://hlt.media.mit.edu/publications/hannahMSthesis.pdf

Lulu (2017-2019)

Lulu is a solution for couppling e-textiles with optic-fibers and the development of this solution is captured in this display case:
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/category/lulu/

KOBA E-Textile Tailor Shop (2017-2019)

Closing Exhibition
>> http://www.kobakant.at/KOBA/

Dear Potential Future Customer, …
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157703356103685

Library of Missing Parts (2018)

Library of Missing Parts

“Making” Music (2018)
http://www.plusea.at/?p=6369

---

Mandalas

Documentation Tools (2017)

Three days with Adrian Freed in his Berkeley studio/lab experimenting with documentation for capturing different aspects of a making process in different ways.

Adrian and Hannah:

Adrian introduces some of his first sensor demos and Hannah asks questions:

Hannah’s flickr set >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157683860719106

Equipment

Hannah’s Stuff

Sony camera
Notebook
Pen and pencil

Adrian’s Documentation Station

usb microscope
photo corner
lighting
tripod
camera
microphone
contact mic
amp

Making Discussion (2016)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=6059

MADA collective map

A Wearable Studio Performance (2017)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=6147

Bitlace (2014)

Bitlace

LeatherSynths (2013)

LeatherSynths

http://www.plusea.at/?cat=107

Liberated Circuits (2012)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=3433

Process Blogs / Making-ofs…

rSkin – Open Source Robot Skin (2011)
>> http://www.plusea.at/?cat=97

Penguin Interface (2011)
>> http://www.plusea.at/?cat=98

It works! (2011)

>> http://www.plusea.at/?p=1950

HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT (2009)

>> http://howtogetwhatyouwant.at/

Joyslippers (2008)

http://www.joyslippers.plusea.at/

Massage me (2007)

http://www.kobakant.at/massage-me/?menu=2
https://www.instructables.com/id/Massage-me-Jacket/

Process Imagry

References

Build in Progress

Infolio

Barrel maker illustrations

Julie Kumar – Cutting things in half
>> https://www.instructables.com/id/Cutting-Things-in-Half/
>> https://www.autodesk.com/artist-in-residence/artists/julie-kumar
>> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJILG_rcnS9MpVBTpcDh4Q

KNOLLING
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sachs_(artist)#Knolling
>> https://theultralinx.com/2013/09/50-amazing-examples-knolling-photography/

Todd Mclellan – Things come apart
https://www.toddmclellan.com/thingscomeapar
https://www.toddmclellan.com/

Social distancing as an opportunity for material intimacy? As somebody who leads crafty hands-on material workshops (mostly on e-textiles and physical computing), I’ve been trying to find interesting ways of communicating these experiences remotely, without relying on a setup in which participants spend the majority of their time in front of devices. The social distancing measures that we are currently taking to slow the spread of covid-19, bar us from gathering physically with other humans, but nothing is stopping us from getting intimate with other (inanimate) beings. Maybe, all alone with other materials, we are able to get even more materially intimate with them!

see also:
LEVEL2_THE REMIX >> https://www.plusea.at/?p=7032
this level was designed as part of my teaching at Spiel und Objekt

general documentation photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713698549692

THE GAMEBOARD V3_

GAMEBOARD PDF for print (4xA4):
http://plusea.at/downloads/games/MaterialAdventures/MaterialAdventures_L1/V3/MaterialAdventures_L1_V3_board_A4print.pdf

GAMEBOARD JPG full (30x70cm):
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/50986939232/sizes/l/

THE GAMEBOARD V2_

GAMEBOARD JPG full (30x70cm):
>> https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010943853_60ea873e69_b.jpg

THE GAMEBOARD V1_

INSTRUCTION_BOOKLET PDF (A6):
http://plusea.at/downloads/games/MaterialAdventures/MaterialAdventures_L1/MaterialAdventures_L1_V1_instructions.pdf
GAMEBOARD PDF for print (4xA4):
http://plusea.at/downloads/games/MaterialAdventures/MaterialAdventures_L1/MaterialAdventures_L1_V1_board_A4print.pdf
GAMEBOARD JPG full (30x70cm):
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49726356018_d5c5e3de6b_b.jpg

PLAYS_

play1 (S&&O 1jhg SS2020) >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713698011278
play2 (f&n 2020) >> …
play3 (S&&O 2jhg WS20/21) >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/sets/72157717394399738/
stickers >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713903023941

This story has two origins that accidentally collided one careless morning in my studio.

One origin came from the experience of being in the jungle and trying to go about things I am used to doing inside my studio, in the wild.

>> Hacking the Wild project page
>> Flickr set https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157650592167875
Hacking the Wild project page

Realizing that I was poorly equipped to work well in this different environment, but also enjoying seeing my outdoor environment as being full of materials. This lead me to start considering making as a means of experiencing the world as a topic for further projects&exploration, and to build A Wearable Studio Practice – items that would allow me to more easily take my practice outside the confines of my studio’s walls.

Among the items I made myself was a pincushion bracelet so that I could wear my pins close at hand.

The other origin began when I started considering a simple tailors straight pin to not only be a tool, but also a material with which I could build things. Leading me to explore The Anatomy of a Pin.

Their enticing sharpness allows pins to pierce through materials, including our skin. As straight lines they are capable of amplifying the movement of a surface they’re connected to, and collectively they accumulate into a soft manoeuvreable fur. With a hole on one end they can pull a soft line of thread through other materials, holding these together to construct three-dimensional forms. Being made of metal they are able to conduct electricity, and can be used to close a circuit to detect touch. As simple and commonly known tools they are transparent and familiar, and we use them to manipulate our world.

>> Anatomy of a Pin project category
>> Anatomy of a Pin Instructables Collection
>> Anatomy of a Pin Flickr photo collection

I used their sharpness to pierce other materials in order to highlight movements making Dangerous Lashes and Maneuverable Fur.

Used them to create a series of Dangerous Sensors:

And warned of their ability to penetrate our skin with icons like these:

Then went on to re-create their sharpness by 3D printing Dangerous Fur.

When interviewed for a zine on situated knowledges at the time, I said: I’ve been thinking about the straight pins that tailors use in dressmaking to pin fabrics together. They’re so reduced to their elements. There’s one end that’s intended for us to interact with and that’s the head, where we won’t poke ourselves. Then there’s the sharp end that we’re not going to interact with and that’s going to be interacting with the material. And then there’s the shaft in between, which is the distance between us and the material, which is kind of a tool.

>> http://situated.systems/knowledges/02/situatedsystems_zine02_screen.pdf

Then, one morning in September 2018, I was impatient and rushed and an accident happened. The Headless Pin slipped inside my body and stayed there for quite some time. This experience of living with one of my tools inside of me got me thinking about my relationship with the materials of my practice and how they form me as much as I manipulate them.

The following March 2019, I engaged in an experiment where I set off on a journey with a material and tried to capture all that happened both to me, as well as to the material. This journey is captured in letters, samples and a piece of writing titled Getting Lost and Unlearning Certainty.

Shortly after getting lost with thermochromic pigment, I spent one month on a game residency, thinking about what I could turn into a game while walking every day in the woods behind the house. Every project begins with a walk in the woods is the beginning of an attempt to capture how a practice of making with materials is an opportunity to observe oneself being material, and how to share this opportunity through a game that everybody could play.

That summer I gave a presentation at the CCC Camp 2019, in which I attempted to tell this story…. with some humor, but also trying to build up to the moment of becoming material, as a moment of surprise.

And finally, currently, Seasonal Sensors is the latest and ongoing attempt at remembering we are materials too.

And possibly this idea for a workshop titled Capturing Process is a desire to distill techniques for observing our material-ness (our own material qualities) in order to sensitize ourselves through observing, documenting and examining our conversations (our making processes) with other materials.

To be continued…

Performed for the first time during On Stage at FFT Düsseldorf, Saturday March 14th, 10am

This “performative making experience” was based on the idea that taking parts apart (to see what is inside and understand how they work, in order to re-make them differently), could be used as a hands-on experience for participants to engage with other narratives.

The idea of “making as a means of other experiences” had been fermenting in my mind for some time, but the LEG-9 narrative and performance was conceived and realized during one long last evening at Game on Stage, and performed early the next morning. It was a first try to explore the format, and thematically influenced by the spread of COVID-19.

Photos >> https://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/albums/72157713507450651
Game on Stage >> https://fft-duesseldorf.de/stueck/game-on-stage/
Game on Stage docu >> https://fft-duesseldorf.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/zine_game-on-stage.pdf
Game on Stage zine >> https://fft-duesseldorf.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/zine_game-on-stage.pdf

The Experiance

The Story

A recent outbreak of the Loose Empathy Gift virus [LEG-9] has caused researchers to discover that human empathy may well be the result of an Empathy Gift virus. Human empathy has until now been considered to be a cognitive emotional ability. This new information, that empathy is in fact the result of a non-human cell-culture that we host within us, may well give us cause to rethink our relations with our emotions and foreign cells.

LEG-9 causes infected individuals to experience lower levels of empathy because the LEG-9 virus cells in their body render the Empathy Gift cells [EG-4] defunct. Common practice in developing virus cures has been to eradicate viral cells. A new movement towards Altruistic Modification Methods (AMMs) looks to shift human cures away from human-centric acts of destruction. It considers life-forms harmful to human life to have rights for their survival, and thus calls for altruistic methods in the treatment of such conflicts.

The Virus

The Altruistic Modification Process

Empathy Gift virus [EG-4]

Loose Empathy Gift virus [LEG-9] –> Modified LEG-9 [MLEG-9]

The Forms

First Contact Protocol:

Filled:

Follow-up Questionnaire:

The Documentation

First we took parts apart to experiance it for ourselves:

The life-beat tool:

Process text by Nora: