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AnimaTo

 AnimaTo: a multimorphic textile-form artefact

AnimaTo is a multimorphic textile-form artefact with multiple embedded states. In the initial state, AnimaTo resembles an ordinary tea towel. When exposed to water, AnimaTo changes shape first by becoming smaller and thicker. Then, after washing, it unfolds into a strip of cloth three times longer than its initial state. AnimaTo’s performative qualities invite people to interact with it, use it in many different ways, and situate it in multiple contexts of use, becoming a multisituated artefact.

This project instantiates how multimorphic thinking can build towards extended user-textile product relationships through multiplicity, engaging interactions and multiple lifecycles.

Shrinking stage

unfolding stage

 

Material explorations

Initial sampling with PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) yarn. I selected two unique material qualities of PVA: its shrink-ability and its dissolv-ability.

Production

Weaving on industrial jacquard loom and finishing AnimaTo.


This work is presented in: Buso, A., McQuillan, H., Jansen, K., Karana, E. (2023). AnimaTo: Designing a Multimorphic Textile Artefact for Performativity. ACM DIS '24: Proceedings of the 2024 Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 1-5th July 2024, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. [DOI] [PDF]