Weaving in Nature
Session 1 | June 8–20
Meander by Kate Reed, 2021. Computationally Generated and 3D Printed.
During her residency, Kate Reed will share her work and discuss the properties of fibers, shapes, and forms that we encounter in nature. This work is intended to foster reflection on the intersection of art and nature, weaving together conversation, craft, and exploration in the great outdoors. As part of the residency, Reed will offer an immersive hike for session participants, during which they will gather natural materials to create woven pieces, exploring the structures and textures found in the environment.
Kate Reed (she/her) is a Boston-based designer leveraging principles of nature to build wearable technology that connects humans and computers with the natural world, harnessing human biological input and output methods through the combination of digital craft, experimental interfaces, and augmented materials. Reed built her first wearable computer when she was 13, before the introduction of the Apple Watch. Since then, she has designed, engineered, and built over one hundred wearable computers. The first graduate of the MIT-backed NuVu Studio, she received dual undergraduate degrees from Brown University in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Rhode Island School of Design (Industrial Design, Computational Technology, & Culture). She also received a Masters in Science in Computational Advanced Design from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Geodesy. Reed established the Artist and Researcher in Residency program at Dassault Systemes and created an Artist Residency position at BosLab. She specializes in building machines, modifying biology, augmenting the body, and growing technology, and champions a symbiotic relationship between technology and nature, advocating for the digital evolution of the natural world and the natural evolution of the digital world. Reed’s designs and inventions have been featured at the White House, New York Fashion Week, the Museum of Design Atlanta, the Hackaday Superconference, the MIT Museum, and more, and her work has been published internationally.
Fab Lab Residents do not teach workshops. These individuals are in residence throughout sessions and augment the creative practices on campus through their own research, informal activities, and integration into the session community.