Phillip Stearns weaves pixels. The Brooklyn-based artist's latest work,
Fragmented Memory, is a triptych of tapestries based on raw binary data taken from his laptop, which he accessed by performing a core memory dump -- a diagnostic procedure usually used when a computer crashes. "You get this portrait of the computer's inner workings," the 31-year-old says.
Stearns created images by assigning pixel values to the data, then searching for patterns in the multicoloured noise. Funded by a
Kickstarter campaign that raised twice his goal of $8,500 (£5,500), he then went to the TextielMuseum in Tilburg, the Netherlands, to make the tapestries in its TextielLab. There, Stearns selected a colour palette of 64 hues, created using eight coloured yarns. The computer image was indexed to the palette and the pattern sent to the loom.
For his next project, Stearns plans to use malicious code to weave "infected" blankets. Botnet in the bedroom? Stylish...
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
