Computers & weaving.

The history of computers shows the first programmable device was credited to Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834) of France for inventing the automatic pattern loom. This "Jacquard Loom" used a series of cards with holes punched in them (not unlike the concept for computer punch cards used up to the 1980s). These cards were read mechanically which determined which threads were selected to produce the desired pattern in the weave.

Today, modern computers are connected to electronic control boxes that are connected to looms. Weavers can now design complex weaves on the computer and the information is automatically transferred to the control box that determines which harnesses will be raised on each pass of the shuttle. One such loom is the AVL sixteen-harness loom made in California. This loom, made to be controlled by personal computers, has found its way into universities and weavers' studios around the world.

Traditional Weaving Techniques

Weaving on traditional looms requires threading the loom with the "warp" threads. The cross threads, or "weft," are then made by throwing the shuttle back and forth when the proper warp threads are raised by the harnesses. On a traditional sixteen-harness loom, there are sixteen peddles that are operated to raise these threads. A weaver designs a pattern with great care on graph paper with colored pencils and then writes out the details of the sequence for the exact arrangement of the harness positions for each pass of the shuttle.

On the computer loom, all the harness combinations are determined by a special mechanical box attached to the loom and controlled by the computer. The sequence of the weave development is shown on the screen and the operator has only the shuttle and two peddles to operate. Rather than punch cards to control which harnesses raise up, the computer electronically activates the levers that control the harnesses. The software provides the instructions for the computer based on the weaver's design.

Exploring Possibilities

The software allows the weaver to design a pattern and then ask for a "draw down" to see what the pattern would look like after it was woven. A simple motif for a pattern can be created. Then, using the software, that design can be rotated, flipped, reflected, repeated, translated and glided. With a color computer, the artist can explore changes resulting from different color combinations.

Barbara Pickett, fiber professor at the University of Oregon, says, "Many weavers like to use the software as a design tool and don't even own the computer loom. They find it useful in the planning and experimental stages of designing a weave. it becomes a sort of sketching tool."

Experimentation in the Design Process

Pickett says the computer seems to encourage experimentation with complexity. As an example, artists can develop designs by blending together scanned images or by taking one weave structure and super-imposing it on another. Because the computer controls the treadles, it frees the weaver from all the time usually spent tying them up. Pickett observes an added playfulness in the design process.

Seattle artist C. T. Chew uses his background in painting, printmaking and computer drawing to design wool rugs. He uses a personal computer to develop his design for each rug. After making a small ink-jet print, he enlarges the design to make a full-scale drawing of the final rug, often over 6 x 8' (1.83 x 2.44 m). He transfers the pattern to graph paper, selects colors from a palette of fifty custom yarn samples, and then sends it off to his weavers in Nepal.

Technology Meets Tradition

Chew has set up a special shop, "Contemporary Carpet Center," in the northern part of Katmandu. There, five weavers weave his designs as well as designs by other artists. The final rug is 3/4" (2 cm) thick and made of wool spun from Tibetan and New Zealand sheep. Chew uses computers to develop his designs, and the weavers in Nepal use traditional techniques to create these rugs. His work can be seen at the MIA Gallery in Seattle.

Weaving and computers share a longer history than most people realize. Now, these two technologies are coming together with beautiful results that you can wear, mount on the wall, or display on the floor. They have a bright future together as these examples by two different artists indicate.

Kenneth R. O'Connell is professor and head of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He has been working with computers in the arts since 1978. He is the Art Gallery Chair for SIGGRAPH 95 in Los Angeles, August 6-1 1. For further information, write to him at 5232 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-5232.