Exercise: Social Medium

New for 2026.

Our final project objective is an outdoor performance of kinetic textile artifacts. One approach could be an interactive installation which brings together friends and strangers from the community.

The objective of this exercise is to explore the idea of using moving fabric as a medium for social exchange. It is an early, open-ended experiment to start identifying the questions and brainstorming forms and methods.

Inspirations

There are several existing works we could see as inspiration for this inquiry.

From the class presentations:

Others:

These examples share some properties:

  • they are installations at human scale or larger

  • involving direct bodily engagement

  • allowing friends or strangers to share an activity

  • including textiles or soft materials

  • many include motion of some form

  • engagement is by choice, transient, opportunistic, self-paced

The key is that although these are delightful to see, they are not solely visual experiences detached from the viewer. The works come alive when touched, especially when shared.

Inquiry

The core question is simply: how could we incorporate soft materials into a kinetic experience which naturally brings together friends and strangers?

This raises many other high-level questions:

  • What is the key principle of bodily engagement? Does a visitor enter a space, touch, listen closely, hide inside, lean against, support their weight, cover their eyes?

  • What is the key principle of movement to develop that engagement? Does the piece flex, change shape, animate, make sound?

  • Is the movement principle legible? Does the natural unprompted response of a visitor create a reaction?

  • How are viewers attracted to begin to engage? Does the piece have autonomous motion behavior? Sensory tactile materials? Color? Sound?

Suggestions

This is admittedly a very abstract prompt, but the following examples might help illustrate potential approaches. Within each of these is a principle which could be tested at small scale.

  • architectural intervention: if you wrap a scarf around a stair railing, what would happen if it were pulsing and alive? Can you simulate this by puppeting it while another person walks down the stairs?

  • hideaway: if a sheet is suspended to define a hidden space, can it create a meeting point? What happens if there are multiple entry point? What happens if the entry closes when a person steps inside?

  • activated hammock: could a ready-made hammock be adapted to actuate a kinetic sculpture suspended over it? Could a pair of hammocks physically communicate?

  • linked wearables: a set of objects or garments each worn on a body which can connect or communicate between different people

  • symbolic communication: could ribbons tied onto a rope with slip knots be used to leave messages?

  • sonification: can a tensioned fabric be actuated to convey sound either felt as a vibration or heard through bone conduction?

  • labyrinth: what if a maze changed shape?

  • tactile wall: a tensioned membrane that can convey touch and silhouette

Process

  1. I would like you to consider this approach and develop a tiny experiment to explore a concept.

  2. You might start high-level: imagine a kinetic installation, identify a particular interaction, then try it at small scale using a textile object.

  3. You might start low-level: choose a fabric, then play with ways it could be touched, activated, or situated in a space.

  4. Please select an appropriate fabric element to use for a physical experiment. This could be a swatch borrowed from the bins in the classroom, a garment, a towel or blanket, etc.

  5. Choose a location and context which supports a quick mock up.

  6. Physically simulate an element of the experience. This will likely involve some hand-puppetry for now.

Deliverables

  1. Record a short video (probably 10-20 seconds) which reveals a movement or critical moment of physical engagement.

  2. Submit the video to Shared Drive folder identified by your name.