Christy Matson
Soundw(e)ave, 2004
Jacquard woven cotton
Courtesy of the artist

 Much of Christy Mateson’s work uses sound to examine the relationships between the handmade and the digitial. Her Soundw(e)ave materializes the actual sounds of Jacquard looms.  From left to right, the woven pieces reflect the sound print of a traditional hand-operated loom, a computer-assisted loom, and the fully automated industrial loom. The patterns on the woven cotton get denser or “louder” as the technology gets more automated, a tangible aesthetic representation of the path fiber and textile manufacturing have taken. Automation may bring speed and efficiency, but in this instance, it also brings a lot more noise.