Kate Hartman: DIY Soft Electronics Workshop
June 20, 12-3 p.m.,
Free
Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Building, Room 204,The Banff Centre
Banff Centre Box Office: 1.800.413.8368 or 402.762.6301
Presented as part of the 2009 Banff Summer Arts Festival
A houseplant that sends Twitter updates. A hat that transmits the sound of our thoughts. An electronic beating heart that can be pinned to a sleeve. New York-based artist and inventor Kate Hartman will open her toolbox full of sensors, LED lights, and fabrics for a free workshop on how to sew technology into our lives at The Banff Centre June 20.
Hartman’s innovative combos of technology and traditional domestic arts have been featured in the New York Times and on the BBC. During this public workshop, she’ll share her knowledge of the history of wearable technology, and will lead participants in making their own high-tech crafts.
Hartman’s work focuses on creating new tools for expression through innovative applications. “Kate Hartman has always impressed me with her creativity and playfulness, her thoughtfulness and broad knowledge of digital media and hands-on design,” says Angus Leech, senior mobile researcher at the Banff New Media Institute Advanced Research Technology (A.R.T.) Mobile Lab. “Her projects run the gamut from electric garments and wacky fashions to whimsical technologies for talking to houseplants and glaciers. She’s a clever artist and a great teacher — full of ideas and a lot of fun.”
Hartman is currently at The Banff Centre as an artist-researcher in residence at the A.R.T. Mobile Lab, and as a peer advisor for the Banff New Media Institute’s Almost Perfect Co-production Residency.
The workshop will supply sew-able LEDs and conductive fabrics and threads, and Hartman will present a brief overview of basic electronics concepts, and then instruct on building circuits and inserting LEDs into fabric. Participants are just asked to bring is an open mind and the clothing they’re interested in giving a very modern upgrade.
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