What does the IBIS Space telescope and
this block double weave have in common?
The answer is Uniformly Redundant Arrays.
A day before I turned 31, Owen sent me this wikipedia link.
I was immediately drawn to how the structure could be translated into a weaving draft, especially since I had already been interested in exploring block double weave techniques (largely inspired by the work of Samantha Bittman, who I first studied weaving with through the Catskill Weaving School).
Diving more into the application of these patterns, (especially as coded aperture masks in space telescopes),
I became fascinated by the mathematics behind their construction, which is based on square lattices derived from prime numbers.
Inspired by this, I wove a URA-31 as a tribute to a 31 year old Sally.
Delighted by how the piece turned out, I wanted to share it beyond my studio. It was first exhibited in the Small Works Show at 440 Gallery before finding homes with some of my favorite 31-year-olds.
P.S. MURA - 41
Nearly a year later, but still before my next birthday, I returned to the idea for a sequel. Thinking about how the IBIS telescope technically used a modified uniformly redundant array (MURA), which is not achievable for 31 but is for 41, I extended the project by creating a MURA-41, intended as a work for 41 year old Sally.
For this sequel, I also took it as an opportunity to use a summer-winter structure and paper yarn.
I love how matrices translate beautifully through weaving, and I'm curious to see what new techniques, mathematics, or scientific ideas will inspire the next piece!
