"SoftwAreZ". Linking Textile Techniques and Digital Technologies in Contemporary Art

Vortrag | Lecture
im Rahmen des Forschungs-Kolloquiums "Méta-Textile", Université de Lausanne, 12./13.02.2009

In the jargon of tech nerds and so called 'hackers', "warez" is the term for illegally and/or distributed software – considered by many people as subject of criminal activities, for others a vehicle for an active subversion of market-oriented politics and digital economies. But what could be a possible link between activities like hacking software keys, usually associated with digital piracy and male misbehavior and crafts like stitching and knitting, usually associated with the duteous discipline of females?
What is it that connects textile techniques like weaving, crocheting, stitching and knitting with digital technologies?
In how far could related impulses influence developments in the field of contemporary art, an area where a term like "software" would be primarily associated with electronic art(s) rather than with textiles – except for the more metaphorically coined readings of "soft art" being featured prominently in the late 1960ies especially as a tendency within sculpture?

Hintergrundinformationen | Background Information:

Projekt "SoftWareZ" auf www.under-construction.cc | Project "SoftWareZ" at www.under-construction.cc

tags: alltagskultur, alltagstechnologien, analogital, art & media, art & society, communication, crafts, cultural history, design, digital culture, digitale kultur, dinge, displays, diy, do it yourself, do-it-yourself cultures, do-it-yourself-kulturen, erfindungen, everyday culture, everyday technologies, fashion, geek, handwerk, inventions, knowledge cultures, kommunikation, kulturgeschichte, kunst & gesellschaft, kunst & medien, material, mode, net culture, netzkultur, objects & things, objekte/sachen/dinge, popular culture, populärkultur, technologie, technology, textiles, things, tools, vermittlung, werkzeug, wissenskulturen