The Knitted Radio
in collaboration with Ebru Kurbak, developed at the Eyebeam Art&Technology Center.

The Knitted Radio is an installation piece that manifests how to knit a sweater that is also a FM radio transmitter. The tactile centerpiece is a functional electronic object knitted out of ordinary wool and commonly available conductive materials. The accompanying knitting instructions, to be published in a knitting magazine, allows the reproduction of the electronic object by an alternative maker group.

The piece is part of a larger investigation into using traditional textile crafting techniques to create electronic components and devices from scratch. The critical question is whether ‘what’ one makes is really more important than ‘how’ one makes things. Industrial technology research is mostly driven by the desire to invent the next killer application, whereas artistic research holds the chance to question implications. By exploring alternative production procedures, we might be able to reveal skills, techniques and materials that have been uncharted, undervalued, or decisively left out of popular demand.

The Knitted Radio, in particular, is inspired by the events of the recent protests in on Taksim Square in Istanbul. Even though the Square can be very crowded in its daily use, the diverse crowd faced severe oppression by the police as soon as they were recognised as protestors. Additionally, it became increasingly difficult for them to rely on conventional media that were subject to governmental surveillance or bans. The Knitted Radio is imagined to equip its wearer with the ability to occupy electronic space by sending invisible radio transmission waves. The sweater intends to allow a multiplicity of voices in public space and inspire a local, free communication structure. Knitting is a well-grounded craft technique in Anatolian female culture, building on old traditions and knowledge. In this particular case, it is creatively used as a way to organize conductive, resistive and isolating materials in desired forms and structures in order to make functional electronic components. Wool, insulated copper wires and silk yarn spun with stainless steel can be used to knit resistors, capacitors and coils necessary to form a simple FM radio transmitter.

In the domains of handcrafts, textiles and clothing also the visual appearance is of major significance. Patterns carry symbolic meanings and signal various types of information such as social connotations and affiliations with certain lifestyles or groups. The motive used as inspiration for the knitted radio sweater, the Anatolian ‘eye’, is believed to have magical powers to protect the processor from dangerous external factors. The pattern has also gained additional functional meaning, since same materials knitted in the same way, size and style result in comparable electronic properties and values.

Instructions in knitting are comparable to digital models in rapid manufacturing. They hold all information required to manufacture an object and can be saved, copied and distributed. The potential publication of the knitting instructions in an ordinary knitting magazine, a medium often dismissed as of little intellectual value, would allow the uncensored distribution of The Knitted Radio.

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Supported by the Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Bundesministerium für Kunst und Kultur, Verfassung und Öffentlicher Dienst, and Land Steiermark, Abteilung 9, Kultur, Europa, Außenbeziehungen.

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Perfect Bodies & Rebellious Machines. March 7 – April 16 2017. Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, MX.

Future Production. December 13 2016 – January 10 2017. MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna, AT.Alessandro Ludovico (Ed.) 2015.

Alessandro Ludovico (Ed.) 2015. Neural 50: Transient Gestures. Neural – Critical digital culture and media arts. Winter 2015, ISSN:2037-108X

Michael Hübl (Ed.) 2015. GLOBALE Renaissance 2.0: Der Mensch as Möglichkeitswesen. Kunstforum International, Band 237.

GLOBALE: Exo-Evolution. October 31 2015 – February 28 2016. ZKM-Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe, DE.

NEW GIFTS. June 1- June 26 2015. Macy Gallery, Columbia University, New York, US.

The Rolling Club: Objets d’Art, de Design et Singuliers. March 12 – April 12 2015. Biennale International Design Saint-Etienne 2015, St.Etienne and Lyon, FR.

Update_5/New Technological Art Award 2014. November 7 – November 23 2014. Zebrastraat, Ghent, BE.

How Things Don’t Work: The Dream Space of Victor Papanek. September 26 to December 15 2014. Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery New York City, US.

eTextile Cuvée 2014. July 28 – August 1 2014, Paillard Centre D’Art Contemporain, Pocé sur le Loir, FR.

Eyebeam Gallery. Fabruary 25th 2014. Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, Newy York City, US.

Eyebeam Annual Showcase 2014. January 16 – Fabruary 1 2014. Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, Newy York City, US.