Technological Textiles: Computing History and Decorative Textiles is the next exhibit at the Foster and Muriel McCarl Coverlet Gallery at Saint Vincent College. The opening reception is from 5 to 7 p.m. January 17. The Gallery is on the ground floor of the Fred Rogers Center. The exhibit runs through June 12.
Generative art, or art created with coding as a central characteristic, emerges as the focus of the McCarl Coverlet Gallery’s spring exhibit which focuses on computing technology in the early textile industry.
The coverlets emerge as early examples of generative art using an autonomous system, or using an external system to which the artist gives partial or total control. An important highlight in the history of generative art is the invention of the Jacquard loom in 1801. The handloom itself featured a weaving attachment that introduced the concept of a stored “computer-like” program in the form of punched-cards. These automated cards allowed weavers to produce and replicate complex patterns in textiles quickly and efficiently. Jacquard’s invention revolutionized the weaving industry and punch-card technology paved the way for the invention of both the computer and later forms of generative and algorithmic art.
Gallery hours are from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays, Memorial Day through Labor Day; from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays from Labor Day through Memorial Day, and from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.