The 'Digital Perceptions' exhibition is reviewed on behalf of craftscotland by Caroline Ednie.

The evolution of textiles in our current all-singing all-dancing digital age has reached a point where it is really quite mind-boggling.  For instance we have textiles that double as an electric circuit where barcodes and photographs can be woven into the fabric; then there is electric plaid - a programmable hand woven textile that changes colour when an electric current is introduced.  And perhaps the most spectacular of the lot is the development of flexible light that can be cut, folded and twisted and which resulted in an electroluminescent jacket designed by Gareth Pugh – which was unveiled at the London fashion week in 2005 (and can currently be seen in an ad for HSBC).  The appearance of ‘Digital Perceptions’, an exhibition focussing on the impact of digital technology on contemporary textile art, is therefore timely to say the least.

Yet ‘Digital Perceptions’ resists any attempt to simply represent this new generation of digitally enhanced textiles, and instead presents a selection of very personal – and dramatically varied - responses to new developments in digital technology in the work of seven leading textiles artists from the UK and USA.  These are namely: Alison F Bell, J R Campbell, Carol LeBaron, Philip O’Reilly, Kathy Schicker, Cathy Treadaway and Joan Truckenbrod. 

At the high octane end of the digital meets textile scale is the work of JR Campbell.  Perhaps Campbell’s all embracing approach is hardly surprising considering the artist’s role as a research director for the Centre of Advanced Textiles at the Glasgow School of Art – which has become something of an HQ for the digital textile revolution in the UK.  Essentially, Campbell attempts to “push (new technological) tools to the limit”, and in doing so has achieved some amount of bravura in pieces such as the full-on and vibrant ‘Icarus’ and ‘Moving Through’.

Contrastingly, Cathy Treadaway’s textile works – comprising digital images and textile ink-jet printing - seem to be much less to do with pushing the boundaries of digital imaging than harnessing its properties in order to facilitate her highly individual vision. Indeed, although the images in the exhibition’s ‘Five Elements’ series involve scanning and digital layering, the expressive, painterly quality of the prints make it almost difficult to discern any digital intervention at all. 

Similarly, Alison F. Bell’s delicately crafted pieces do not particularly wear their digital hearts on their sleeves.  However, ‘Black Fireworks’, a painted, scanned, virtually layered and stitched celebration of the artist’s recent visit to Chicago, seems to suggest a more overt rather than tentative exploration of the digital medium, a new direction that is one to watch out for.   As is Philip O’Reilly ongoing experiments in ‘Material Colour’, a series of exuberant experiments in surface pattern and colour, which the artist hopes to translate from their current textile form into printed clay. 

Elsewhere in the exhibition, Joan Truckenbrod’s involvement with digital media in order “to create complex layers of experience that parallel the multiple realms of indigenous peoples” takes the form of a series of sober installations pieces.  Carol LeBaron also uses the textile medium as a conduit in which to express weighty concerns – in LeBaron’s case it is the often devastating effect of human impact on natural forms and environments.  Abstraction and repetition are LeBaron’s visual language and her great facilitator is a computerised Jacquard loom.

Kathy Schicker uses the Jacquard loom to great effect in her exploration of the concepts of home, family, memory and loss.  A series of powerful textile tableaux, based on family portraits have been created via an image-based digital Jacquard weaving process.  The translation of family photographs into woven fabric is a poignant device, particularly in the case of ‘Sepp Purple’ and ‘Sisters Triptych’, which appear almost ethereal and otherworldly in their combination of image and texture.

Overall, ‘Digital Perceptions’ may range from giant to baby steps in terms of each artist’s individual approach and response to new developments in digital technology.  Yet in bringing such a diverse and disparate group together, the exhibition provides a rare and vital snapshot of this ever changing digital age.

'Digital Perceptions' is taking place from 14 January to 18 February 2006 at the Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, 22 Richmond St, Glasgow.  Open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 12 noon to 4pm.  Supported by a documentary DVD, illustrated publication, educational events, residencies and a 2 day conference on 10 and 11 February 2006.  For more information contact the Collins Gallery. Tel :0141 553 4145 e-mail : collinsgallery@strath.ac.uk

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