LATROBE, PA – An opening reception at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, will kick off “Technological Textiles: Computing History and Decorative Textiles,” the latest exhibition at the Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery at Saint Vincent College.
The exhibition is free and open to the public, and will be displayed at the Gallery, located in the Fred M. Rogers Center on the Saint Vincent College campus, through June 12.
Generative art, or art created with coding as a central characteristic, will be the focus of the spring exhibit, which showcases computing technology in the early textile industry. The coverlets emerge as early examples of generative art using an autonomous system, or the use of an external system to which the artist gives partial or total control.
An important highlight in the history of generative art is the invention of the Jacquard loom in 1801 by Joseph Marie Jacquard. The handloom itself featured a weaving attachment that introduced the concept of a stored “computer-like” program in the form of punched cards. The automated cards then allowed weavers to produce and replicate complex patterns in textiles quickly and efficiently. This innovation revolutionized the weaving industry and punch-card technology paved the way for the introduction of the computer and later forms of generative and algorithmic art.
Gallery hours are noon – 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 6:30 – 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
For more information on “Technological Textiles,” contact Lauren Churilla, curator of the McCarl Gallery, at lauren.churilla@stvincent.edu or 724-805-2188.
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