GRETA GRIP

12 panels

Hacking technology to confront contemporary media might not be something you associate with knitting. However, Ottawa-based conceptual textile artist Greta Grip uses this traditional tactile medium to disrupt the glossy bombardment we receive through digital channels.

To make these works, Grip transforms her knitting machine by removing its original “brain” and replacing it with a USB port, filtering her knitting patterns through the computer. “Glitches” resulting from this process become part of the work, seen in As if this matters (2020) and This is not here (2020) -when the machine was supposed to knit this sentence, but it decided not to work. Juxtaposed against slick, overly polished, filtered media, Grip embraces the flaws as an unedited “selfie.”

In her investigation of the relationships between craft and technology, Grip examines the concept of coding, with knits and purls comparable to binary code: a form of communication. Using humour, her work highlights digital miscommunication, made obvious in Unreadable (2017) for example, which depicts the symbol for unreadable digital text, although few people actually understand what the symbol means.

Correspondingly, Grip leaks hidden messages by layering translucent knitted material, or by turning works of art around to uncover the threads behind, exposing hidden metadata that would otherwise remain encrypted.

-Rebecca Basciano and Catherine Sinclair Ottawa Art Gallery

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

Gathering data from OAG visitor interactions —on our website (click "Knit it!") and onsite in the building itself — this machine is knitting a tactile visualization of ongoing visitor statistics. Watch your stitch live on YouTube!

We live in a world in which data mining is a hidden practice, and the digital traces we leave behind are collected and used without our knowledge. By contrast, this machine is transparent in its conversion of selected data into something tactile: a graphic spectrum of colour, and the tangible result of our collective interaction, growing before our eyes.

Linked to digital platforms and sensors in the Gallery, the machine responds to visitors with a knitted full circular row. Growing longer, and piling up as each interaction is documented, the knitted creation will be a record of OAG activity over the course of one year, represented by a distinct colour each month.

When visitors pass this sensor at the entrance to the Art Gallery of Ottawa, they will activate the knitting machine to knit one row.

The GIF on the OAG website

The GIF on the OAG website.