Introducing Sensory-material Aesthetics in Textile Design Education

Main Article Content

Erin Lewis
Vidmina Stasiulyte

Abstract

In textile design education, material expressions tend to be directed toward visual-tactile sensory domains. Yet, materials are perceived by all senses, as the body’s experience is mediated through multiple sensory modalities. This paper presents an experiential learning workshop designed to introduce textile design students to somaesthetics as a way to increase sensory competencies and enrich the exploration of sensory-material expressions in textile design. Teaching methods involved a sensitizing exercise, a reflective sense collage, a collaborative sense map task, and a final design task. An evaluative discussion is based on workshop feedback by the students and reflections by the researchers. The main contributions of the paper are guidelines as an inspirational source for introducing sensory-material aesthetics in textile design education.

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How to Cite
Lewis, E., & Stasiulyte, V. (2022). Introducing Sensory-material Aesthetics in Textile Design Education. Diseña, (20), Article.7. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.20.Article.7 (Original work published January 31, 2022)
Section
Original Articles (part 1)
Author Biographies

Erin Lewis, University of Borås, The Swedish School of Textiles

BA in Integrated Media, Ontario College of Art & Design University. Ph.D. Candidate in Textile Interaction Design, University of Borås. As a researcher, she is interested in interaction design, textile design, textile interaction design, interaction aesthetics, electronic arts, critical digital media theory, post-digital theory, design theory, textile design theory, and textile design thinking. Her latest publications include ‘Between Yarns and Electrons: A Method for Designing Tex­tural Expressions in Electromagnetic Smart Textiles’ (Nordic Design Research Conference 2021) and ‘Abstract Everywhere: The Dressed Body in Electromagnetic Space’ (Unlikely: The Journal for Creative Arts, Issue 6). She is the current holder of the DigitalFUTURES Project Award (bestowed in recognition for the project ‘Flower Antenna’, 3rd International Conferen­ce on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication).

Vidmina Stasiulyte, University of Borås, The Swedish School of Textiles

Bachelor in Costume Design, Vilnius Academy of Arts. MA in Photography and Media Art, Vilnius Aca­demy of Arts. Ph.D. in Artistic Research (Fashion Design), Uni­versity of Borås. She is a Senior Lecturer at The Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, and a member of the Master Stu­dies Committee in the Department of Fashion Design at Vilnius Academy of Arts. As a researcher, educator, artist, and fashion designer, she is interested in embodied design, social inclusion, multisensorial forms and expressions, sonic fashion, and interac­tion aesthetics. Some of her latest publications are ‘Sound-based Thinking and Design Practices with Embodied Extensions’ (with E. Lewis; in Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction) and ‘Imagining a Future of Sonic Fashion’ (Utopian Studies, Vol. 28, Issue 3).

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