Using wool’s agency to design and make felted artefacts

This exposition presents an explorative project that examines employing
material as a reference point for designing and making an artefact. The material’s effects on designing and making have been elaborated upon
from many angles. This exposition also examines how material affects
designing and making processes from the perspective of material agency. This study argues that by observing a material’s behaviour from the perspective of agency, one can genuinely understand what the material does, and accordingly can find ways to collaborate with it in the process of designing and making artefacts. The discussion is articulated through a designer’s project in felting by employing a practice-led research approach that examined the decision-making processes through written reflections and visual documentation. This examination suggests that by including material as a reference point, design and
making can reflect the ecology of the material in a way that combines human power with the activeness of the material.