Fiber Fever Summer Camp

Braided Ribbons

"We use them every day. Braided ribbons, like ropes or shoelaces or the string of your hoodie, are the most ordinary objects. However,
they have multiple associations, meanings, and functions. These objects collect historical, cultural, technical, social and systemic layers

that make them the inspiration for our Fiber Fever Summercamp 2023."

2023 // Mentoring: | Helena De Smet | Marieke Maertens| Veronique De Mey | Louise Dumon

How can braiding techniques become more accessible? Through the research of colour we aim to facilitate insight into different braiding techniques. Defined parameters that are executed in a structured way form the basis for the continuous research process. All our experiments and findings are collected in an archive, open for everyone to experiment themselves and share their own experiences.

While the different types of braids are endless, we focused on two braids in specific, one round, the Maypole braid, and one flat, the double-faced braid. Both of them are more complicated to make but with the archive we hope it will be more accessible and understandable. We opted for these two braids because their technique allows us to experiment with different colors, compositions and are easily manipulated to create new forms. The beginning of the research is conducted by Magdalena Sophie Orland, Rosan Pille and Annelies Clerix.

*It is important to mention that the techniques explained below were developed with the help of the book of Noémie Speiser, The Manual of Braiding, 1988 and with the input of Soft Connection Lab (KASK) and Louise Dumon.

Open source project presentation on Wiki

Project page Timelab Gent (BE)