Hello everyone! My name is Elektra Caffrey, and I am in the first year of my master’s in computer science. I have always been artistic and wanted to explore more of where computation and art come together. I have never 3D printed before but have wanted to learn for a long time. This class caught my eye during my undergraduate degree (also CS at UNM) but for one reason or another I was unable to take it until now. I am excited to get to know everyone and see what you come up with!
The project I chose is called Silk Pavilion II. It was developed by Neri Oxman and her research team and showcased at the MoMA in 2020. The project used 17,532 silkworms to weave silk on a prefabricated kinetic jig. The structure was designed to guide the silkworms’ spinning process. They utilized simulations along with physical tests to explore the impact of light, heat, and gravity on the quality of silk and its distribution patterns. I thought it was an impressive example of an interdisciplinary mesh of computational design with biology. Here is a link to Oxman’s website that shows more about her work on this project: https://oxman.com/projects/silk-pavilion-ii
Hello, Elektra! Thank you for sharing this! What I found amazing is that for this project they utilized simulations. It seems to be extremely hard project to be working on since there is so many things you have to explore such as impact of light, head and gravity on the quality of silk and its distribution patterns.
Yes, there are so many things that can impact the final product so simulations provide a way to try and control it as much as possible. Glad you found it interesting as well!
Hi! Your project choice is really cool! I’ve always found project and research that meshes nature and the digital world together. It’s particularly cool that they used actual silkworms to do the weaving and just guided them to produce the desired end result.
Hey Elektra! The project you found is very interesting. I find that using organic and biological structures is one of the many ways that something unique can be created within a computational or more algorithmic design. This work could have been replicated without the use of real silk worms but by using real silkworms it becomes much more unique.
Hello Elektra, this piece might be one of the most interesting projects I have seen in my life. Using computational design to guide actual silkworms to create an art piece is truly mind-blowing. The amount of patience and detail that team had is remarkable to say the least. This was a very intriguing post!
Hi Elektra, (btw your name is awesome >_<)! I really enjoyed the project you shared. This is very impressive in the statistical numbers shown on the site alone 🤯. Taking a deeper dive into their second project is also great. Thanks for sharing there is definitely a rabbit hole you can fall into looking at this project.