My exploration of gathering and shirring fabric with the capstan started with simply making the gathering happen. As you can see in the beginning of the video, I experimented with high frequency, high damping, low distance movements at first. Earlier experiments resulted in the strings that held up the fabric breaking under the pressure, so small movements allowed me to see where the limits of the string were. After exploring how far I could go, I lowered the damping so that the movements had more life to them; the introduction of this bouncing movement gave the fabric more personality and animation.