Open Source
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:16
I recently came across a mention of the artist Ele Carpenter- in the past I have found that most artists do not tend to be scientifically minded, so when one is I am impressed- and Ele is quite impressive. All of her projects come from a complex and conceptual beginning often involving technology, mapping, and the way things and humans connect.

Her project Open Source Embroidery fascinates, excites, and moves me. As an embroiderer I love how she took the unfamiliar and complex world of software programming and turned it into the tangible, hand made process of embroidery. As the wife of a software engineer I appreciate the comparison of embroidery to programming and the acknowledgment of the intense level of creativity involved in software development.

Ele describes the project:
Embroidery is constructed (mostly by women) in hundreds of tiny stitches which are visible on the front of the fabric. The system of the stitches is revealed on the back of the material. Some embroiderer’s seal the back of the fabric, preventing others from seeing the underlying structure of the pattern…
Software is constructed (mostly by men) in hundreds of tiny pieces of code, which form the hidden structure of the program or interface. Open Source software allows you to look at the back of the fabric, and understand the structure of your software, modify it and distribute it. The code is shared …
The same arguments about Open Source vs Free Software can be applied to embroidery. The needlework crafts also have to negotiate the principles of ‘freedom’ to create, modify and distribute, within the cultural and economic constraints of capitalism. The Open Source Embroidery project simply attempts to provide a social and practical way of discussing the issues and trying out the practice. Free Software, Open Source, amateur and professional embroiderers and programmers are welcome to contribute to the project.

This project just reminds me how exciting art can be and how many directions artists minds go. I also really love the process of this piece and its reaching out to community.


The images in this post are from the Open Source project HTML Code a collectively stitched quilt of 216 Hexidecimal colours and a Patch wiki. Each hexagonal patch is embroidered with its web safe Html colour code, and personalised by the sewer. On Open Source’s website you can see each individual contribution and a brief expression by the individual maker.
I cannot wait to see what Ele’s mind comes up with next.
In addition she has some really fabulous links on her links tab.













