Awesome Textiles

During MAX 2023, Adobe showed off Project Primrose, a groundbreaking technology for fashion and interior design. Researcher Christine Dierk modeled an awe-inspiring dress that can change patterns instantly. Based on her research paper with TJ Rhodes and Gavin Miller, it use LCD reflective, non-emissive light-diffuser modules to change state electronically.

Textile artist Greg Climer creates quilts that look like pixelated photographs. After filming a brief scene of his friends kissing, he transformed them into a series of 36″ x 48″ quilts which he animated into a 3-second sequence. In total, he made 36 quilts from about 59,000 squares of fabric. It took him roughly five years to complete the project. (Thanks, Rusty!)

Researchers from the MIT Media Lab developed a method for 3D printing that creates soft and stretchable textiles. The process takes advantage of a defect that can occur in 3D printing – underextruded thermoplastics. By precisely controlling this behavior, they were able to make thin, flexible fabrics with custom patterns.

Textile artist Benjamin Shine creates amazing abstract portraits by folding and ironing pieces of tulle. The layering creates the illusion of light and shadow, bringing his imagery to life both in wall art and sculptural works. More recently, he built a large-scale piece by folding recycled HDPE netting.

Artist Jennifer Collier carefully bonds, waxes, traps and stitches cardboard, thread, and road maps into contemporary textiles; that “fabric” is then fashioned into pristinely detailed everyday objects.