Units of Possibility: The Reknit Revolution
- Submitting institution
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Nottingham Trent University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 58 - 863055
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, Rugby
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first exhibition
- June
- Year of first exhibition
- 2017
- URL
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https://reknitrevolution.org/
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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C - Fashion and Textiles Research Centre
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Units of Possibility: The Reknit Revolution exhibited the culmination of eight years of research into techniques for reworking knitwear using hand-knit skills and knowledge. The work aims to encourage amateur knitters to shift their practices from making to remaking by developing a range of instructional resources and examples. Whether handmade or mass-produced, weft-knitted items can be unravelled, reworked and dynamically transformed in countless ways – yet such processes are barely explored today. Other research projects which focus on garment upcycling utilise cut-and-sew methods, rather than engaging with the knitted structure.
The research-through-design methodology involved the generation of ideas through brainstorming and review of historical instructional materials; iterative development through multiple rounds of practical sampling and user testing; and refinement into various physical and virtual resources. Following its installation at Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, the exhibition toured to two enthusiast events, with a total of 15,615 visitors. Visitor comments generated a further round of feedback.
The centrepiece of the exhibition was the Reknit Spectrum, a large-scale infographic which visually presents a comprehensive range of processes that could be used to rework an item of knitwear. Experimental samples and community-generated projects demonstrate the creative possibilities of these processes, while a film and user-friendly instructions (which remain available on the project website) share the remaking processes in greater detail.
Developmental versions of the Reknit Spectrum and some of the experimental samples were selected by curators including Professor Daniel Charny and Dr Alex McLean for national and international exhibitions between 2012 and 2017, and featured by Professor Sandy Black in her landmark book Knitting (2012). The exhibition was positively reviewed in Fashion Practice (Professor Carol Tulloch, University of the Arts London) and Craft Research. The research has also been disseminated through a peer-reviewed article in Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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