YOKO
“Yoko” is part of a generation of knitting machines that have been manipulated to exist independently of their textile production capabilities.
Consisting of a microcontroller with mechanics and sensors, this “digital punch card” complements a standard hand knitting machine. Instead of the usual punched card with rows of pre-punched holes, the attachment has 24 motors and arms, which mimic the hole/non-hole language of the machine mechanics. Environmental data is grasped via sensors, which control these motor movements and are synchronously translated into textile patterns during knitting.
The technology takes on the role of translator between the machine and its environment. It is no longer the crafter who (pre)defines the pattern; Instead, the machine gains a “sense” that allows it to design the product autonomously. While the emancipated machine programs the patterns itself and the textile product becomes a document and vessel of information, the person behind the apparatus is reduced to his muscle power during operation: a reversal of the hierarchy and authorship of the craft process and its products.
Consisting of a microcontroller with mechanics and sensors, this “digital punch card” complements a standard hand knitting machine. Instead of the usual punched card with rows of pre-punched holes, the attachment has 24 motors and arms, which mimic the hole/non-hole language of the machine mechanics. Environmental data is grasped via sensors, which control these motor movements and are synchronously translated into textile patterns during knitting.
The technology takes on the role of translator between the machine and its environment. It is no longer the crafter who (pre)defines the pattern; Instead, the machine gains a “sense” that allows it to design the product autonomously. While the emancipated machine programs the patterns itself and the textile product becomes a document and vessel of information, the person behind the apparatus is reduced to his muscle power during operation: a reversal of the hierarchy and authorship of the craft process and its products.