Date of Award
Spring 6-4-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Textiles
First Advisor
Anais Missakian
Second Advisor
Brooks Hagan
Third Advisor
Joy Ko
Abstract
Acoustical building materials, with their ability to absorb and diffuse sound, can reshape the character of interior spaces in profound ways. Woven textiles often perform as acoustical materials, whether by coincidence or by design; strategic use of textile structure and dimensionality can yield specific experiential qualities in homes, offices and shared spaces. The way certain materials manipulate sound can feel otherworldly, as if they break the laws of physics or the familiar parameters of one’s surroundings. The same properties can be found in emergent visual patterns and illusory lighting conditions, which provoke an investigative, deliberate way of looking.
In this thesis, I explore the history of architectural acoustics and the meaning of noise as a sonic, conceptual and technical term. Visual metaphors of windows and screens, digital and analog noise and perceptual phenomena shape this work, while the “aliveness” of self-organizing materials provides a rationale for new variations on weaving techniques. The result is a collection of interior fabrics that aim to modify room environments acoustically and visually, suggesting that the static “settings” of such places have shifted. I argue that this sense of unfamiliarity can be fruitful, prompting the viewer to spend time in a focused, exploratory state and become aware of the cognitive processes by which they make sense of the physical world.
Recommended Citation
Meiklejohn, Elizabeth, "World Settings" (2022). Masters Theses. 985.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/985
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Comments
View exhibition online: Elizabeth Meiklejohn, World Settings