Responsive Textiles

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make something which experiences, reacts to its environment, changes, is non-stable...
... make something indeterminate, which always looks different, the shape of which cannot be predicted precisely...
... make something which cannot 'perform' without the assistance of its environment...
... make something which reacts to light and temperature changes, is subject to air currents and whose function depends on the forces of gravity...
... make something which the 'viewer' handles, with which he plays and thus animates...
... make something which lives in time and makes the 'viewer' experience time...
... articulate something natural...

Hans Haacke, Cologne, 1965

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We view the domestic sphere as a garden in which we transform traditional decorative surfaces into rich, dynamic displays of botanical life. Our pieces are the seeds of a story, which grows and develops in response to its environment. Nature is a vast source of ideas to mimic and be inspired by, rather than a source of materials to extract, convert then discard. Few of us realise that our lives are utterly dependent on plants for virtually everything that keeps us alive: oxygen, fibers, fuel and food. A new design practice can be realised through observing and learning from botanical life, cooperating with it rather than working towards its extermination. Photosynthesis, growth, phylotaxis and response to stimuli can provide a strong framework for ‘reactive’ surface design.

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