These weavings are part of a work titled “Pattern : Code” by Ahree Lee presented at the Women’s Center for Creative Work in LA in 2019. The materials used appear to be common cotton and canvas.
The weavings acknowledge the stereotype that weaving is “women’s work”, but also unexpectedly that historically women have been important influences in computer programming.
The history of weaving and computing is surprisingly intertwined, with the punch cards used by Jacquard’s loom inspiring the first computers by Charles Babbage. The first weaving titled “Ada” after Ada Lovelace, Babbage’s muse and collaborator, is a play on this little piece of history, mimicking the punch card and falling into a weave.
In “Disrupting the Industry”, Lee uses the weaving as a visualization or chart of the decline of women studying computer science. The piece also mimics pixels, but utilizes an opposing woven stripe to represent the growing gender gap in the industry.
These weavings have no functional use, but are an interesting play and juxtaposition between the physical and digital/electronic medium, with women centered as the connection between the two. As a future maker with textiles, it reminds me of the possibility of weaving to appear like pixels and data points, but also a warning to not fall back into 2D digital representations of art.
References:
https://hyperallergic.com/523392/ahree-lee-womens-center-for-creative-work/
https://womenscenterforcreativework.com/events/exhibition-opening-pattern-code-by-ahree-lee/