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Abstract
Public installation.
The Spinneret installation plays with the idea of future yarn production inspired by a spider. Spider is a natural 3D printer with multifunction monomaterial. One spider can produce up to six types of different silks and silk composites that all differ in properties. Amazingly, the spider can switch between silk types ‘on the fly’ without cutting the thread in between. The silk-spinning organ of a spider is called a spinneret. It consists of several microscopic spigots that each produce one filament that together make up the silk thread. The thread is mostly protein and often the spider eats its web when it is no longer of use.
The way we make our products needs to be re-thinked. We need to move away from multimaterial, multipart products and steer towards more easily recyclable monomaterial products. At the same time, the demand for refined material and product functionality is growing.
Could it be that eventually we no longer have to use different materials to achieve different properties in products - but, like the spider, could effortlessly engineer monomaterial garments with locally varied, function dependent properties? Could we eventually pick properties like candy in a shop and fuse monomaterial yarns with combinations and gradients of properties customised for each part of the product?
The Spinneret installation plays with the idea of future yarn production inspired by a spider. Spider is a natural 3D printer with multifunction monomaterial. One spider can produce up to six types of different silks and silk composites that all differ in properties. Amazingly, the spider can switch between silk types ‘on the fly’ without cutting the thread in between. The silk-spinning organ of a spider is called a spinneret. It consists of several microscopic spigots that each produce one filament that together make up the silk thread. The thread is mostly protein and often the spider eats its web when it is no longer of use.
The way we make our products needs to be re-thinked. We need to move away from multimaterial, multipart products and steer towards more easily recyclable monomaterial products. At the same time, the demand for refined material and product functionality is growing.
Could it be that eventually we no longer have to use different materials to achieve different properties in products - but, like the spider, could effortlessly engineer monomaterial garments with locally varied, function dependent properties? Could we eventually pick properties like candy in a shop and fuse monomaterial yarns with combinations and gradients of properties customised for each part of the product?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Espoo |
| Publisher | Aalto University |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2020 |
| MoE publication type | F1 Published independent work of art or performance |
Keywords
- Design
- Materials
- Spider silk
- installation
Field of art
- Contemporary art
- Design
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Dive into the research topics of 'Spinneret'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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The New Road to Silk: Bio-based production of silk-like materials
Niinimäki, K. (Principal investigator), Chun, N. (Project Member), Kääriäinen, P. (Project Member), Moslemian, O. (Project Member) & Lauri, P. (Project Member)
01/01/2017 → 31/12/2020
Project: Academy of Finland: Other research funding