So! With this project I was inspired by two things primarily, the patterns of Wampum belts and the type of patterns in Seminole patchwork. Specifically, the fact that orientation and color is all that it took to switch meaning drastically in a Wampum design, and generally, I just like the sort of geometric pattern work in Seminole textiles.

So, after pondering on what to make for perhaps way too long, i came upon a solution. A stop and go place mat for food or whatever you could put on your counter. Stop and go makes the sort of circuitry programming simple and by making something more ‘practical’ I can contextualize reasons to play with the material as I work with them.

Topside we have copper mesh ironed on top of the black textile and a separate ‘dish’ of 3 fabrics stitched underneath into a nice floating switch.

And in reverse we use the silver knit tape to form a common ground and color code our ground. The disc uses a seperate strip of copper to create the gate.

Here it is with its intended purpose, the bowl weighs down the cloth gate to complete a circuit

Here is a complete breakdown of how it works