Circular Knitic, (re)printing the tools

Circular-Knitic

The “maker” movement has gained widespread popularity, especially for its innovations in the local manufacturing and home printing of durable objects. The imaginary triggered by the 3D printer seems to go hand in hand with a fascination for generating physical objects from immaterial instructions in a potentially endless process. But there’s a more critical approach to this kind of technology, which comes from the perspective of creating these tools and putting them to work. “Circular Knitic” by Varvara and Mar (Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet) is an installation with five knitting machines, whose every element has been 3D-printed. They are programmed to automatically and circularly knit for eight months, filling the floor with their outcome. The construction of this fabrication tool discontinues the creation/gratification loop, enabling a process that clearly and effectively displays the opportunities to decide what to produce and the modalities with which to produce it.

 

Circular Knitic

 

Circular Knitic presented in DOERS exhibition