Saturday, September 24, 2011
Machine Knitting a Cosby Sweater
@Craftzine.com blog: Andrew Salomone uses a hacked knitting machine from the 80s to "print" digital images into knitted garments. At World Maker Faire New York 2011, Andrew demonstrates the knitting machine and shows off its creations including a sweater with Bill Cosby's face.
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11 comments:
I love seeing Makers' successful projects. What Salomone has created is something very inspiring to those who strive to understand the workings of machines, technology and other devices. Taking pre-existing creations and adapting or further developing them to fit your needs is the basis of invention - something we should all try to do. It also develops a lot of problem solving skills. We would become a more self-sufficient population if we all showed the same passion for finding solutions and adapting things to fit specific needs - something we already have a head start on by working in theatre.
That Cosby knit print is a beautiful thing. And Will has got a good point that the knitting machine is a great manifestation of what the theater industry is- a conglomeration or "bastard child" of so many other industries' parts and techniques and skills. To me this manipulation of the knitting machine, which is such an old tool not typically used for modern art practices, as an interesting take on the readymade movement. I know that the crafter/artist is still creating their own product, but the exploitation of the medium to create something which comes across with its own new individual flavor seems very readymade to me.
I really love the fact that he took a machine from the 80's and found a way to alter it and reuse it now. It just shows that you can take something old(er) and make it new again. Plus I love the simplicity of the machine--it is not a highly complicated, giant, mass-knitting machine. It is something simple, and the Cosby sweater is a great twist for it's use. I actually really want the Cosby sweater.
This man and his creative ingenuity are a wonderful example of the beautifully possible marriage of technology and arts. I am in awe of how he took the old knitting machine and created such an inventive tool to make a project that would not only take forever, but be very difficult to complete. On the other hand, seeing technological devices such as these that take a task and not only speed it up, but do a better job than creating it by hand make me wanna through my knitting needles out the window! However, I'm sure that that is exactly what someone said to sewing machines and even knitting machines, but people continue to work by hand. There are just some things you can't replace. But there are others that are priceless. Like a Bill Crosby sweater.
That is so cool. I love seeing old technology being redefined and put to good use when it was considered out of date. And I agree with Scott that the simplicity of it is great. I would love to see what else this machine could do. I'm wondering what he did to his mask image before putting it into the machine because if he just holds it up it looks a little funky. When he wraps it on his face it looks great though.
I would love to see this technology applied in different ways too. Using the graphics drivers and outputs to connect that into individual servo's to create an extremely low res monochrome monitor: like flipping white and black cards back and forth. I have also seen his concept used a dot matrix paint truck that paints works on the street.
Okay, I think that sweater is ridiculous but I do think it's amazing how simple his 'hacking' of the loom is. From the video, it sounds essentially like a CNC loom; which has very exciting possibilities.
I could see this kind of technology used fairly inexpensively for custom drapery and soft goods for different levels of production. While this kind of digital printing is done all over the place already, I do think it's something that smaller theatres and production companies could find uses for. And that it's all essentially a little rewiring proves how far a little ingenuity can go.
The idea of knit printing is pretty awesome. While the small hand system is pretty cool, I would really like to see what a large scale automated system based off this design would be capable of doing. Digital prints are a big thing in the entertainment industry, and I am sure that the idea of being able to knit print a design would appeal to many given the numerous limitations that digital printing presents. The sweaters are cool and all, but I would really like to see the same design scaled up to make something theatrical drop size.
This is a great innovation that Salomone has made. This is something that would be of great use to theatre and their costume departments. Sure there are sewing machines that do embroidering and other bigger plotters that process electronic images, but the electronics are much more efficient behind this machine. After seeing this video I want one of these machines for my own personal benefit, your possibilities are endless with this machine.
I personally am a fan of retrograding 80's products into todays uses, i.e. ripping apart an old "ghetto blaster" to work my iPod with better speakers and a sub. This on the other hand is brilliant. I personally have no experience knitting but just from a technical standpoint this machine is brilliant. Just the fact that he got a recognizable image out of this machine is one thing but the Crosby print is beautiful. Great potential for his creation. i see a great use for something like this in a greater scale in theatre.
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