Experimentation / Ideation II

Moving forward with my experimentation and ideation with e-textiles, my research has led me to a couple of artists that use both sound and textiles in conjunction I have found very beneficial and inspirational for my current work. Nikola Woodham incorporates circuitry and sound into her performance and textile works. For example, Woodham created their ‘buffer e-textile jacket’ that was created with their ‘soft circuitry’, a method used which created an interactive sound piece where when the jacket is worn, sound can be triggered, processed through different effects, played back at different speeds, etc. I found Woodhams’ work very beneficial and influential for what I am attempting to create. With the proposal of the synth quilt/duvet, I have now thought of many different methods and executions I could approach this project. Aside from the electromagnetic paint, I now have a further understanding of e-textiles capability, if I were to create a duvet with say, 12 different panels, I could essentially create a giant sampler as an interactive sound installation. Each panel of the duvet would trigger a different sound or different effect for the sound to run through. I imagine I would run this e-textile on the inside of the duvet to act as the trigger, I would want the viewer to come in and really grab a handful of the duvet to trigger the various effects/sounds. In my recent tutorials with Jose, I spoke of creating a body of work or EP alongside this installation work, focusing on ambience, field recordings, synthesizers, and fragmented feelings of home (essentially what I am trying to communicate through these projects in a true sonic form) From this sonic body of work, I could take each layer of a song/soundscape and run it through the ‘duvet sampler’. Pertaining to the EP, I have a couple of pieces I could use for it already, but I am unsure for I truly have never considered myself much of a musician in that sense. But in my recent explorations of ambient sound, I find taking field recordings of conversations a perfect stepping stone to creating “music” out of them. In my mind recorded conversations I have captured are kind of acting as lyrics and I can frame that recording in a way I find beautiful and almost tribunal to that moment captured on the recording. For that project, I plan to explore further on execution and sound palets. (maybe psychoacoustics?)