vK    Vitreous Knit

PROJECT DATA

TYPE	OBJECT
LOCATION	CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA
CLIENT	NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA
DATE	2023
TEAM	IAIN MAXWELL
COLLABORATORS	[TOMKINS DESIGN] SAM TOMKINS
PHOTOS	NICK BURROWS
AWARDS	COMMISSION MATERIAL WORLDS EXHIBITION - PERMANENT COLLECTION NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA

Vitreous Knit

Material World, National Museum of Australia

Vitreous Knit innovatively processes glass twill with a cheap and readily available manual knitting machine to fabricate intricate structures that offer few clues to their production. 

Drawing upon ancient human making practices, Vitreous Knit is an artefact from early-stage research into the realisation of novel object forms fabricated via glass knitting. The project reconsiders preconceptions that glass objects are solid, rigid, and brittle.  

Glass-fibres are a highly versatile class of materials commonly used as reinforcement, either as loose strands or woven textiles, within polymer-based resins such as epoxy and unsaturated polyester.  While their contemporary use sits firmly within technologically-advanced material practices connected to aerospace, less appreciated is the fact that glass-fibre is an extremely old material.  The earliest examples of their use can be traced to the ancient Pheonician and Egyptian civilisations, who wound coarse glass-fibres over clay vessels and objects. Vitreous Knit innovatively combines glass twill, commonly used in industry to produce glassfibre reinforcement textiles, with a cheap and readily available manual knitting machine to fabricate a sparse tubular matrix that is stepwise formed and infused.  The result, a highly unique materialization strategy capable of forming highly intricate knitted structures that offer few clues to their production.

Vitrous Knit is the outcome of a  collaboration with nationally-recognised industrial designer Sam Tomkins [Tomkins Design],  Development of the knitting fabrication approach was undertaken at the University of Canberra, Faculty of Arts and Design, Workshop 07, where both Max and Sam hold academic positions and integrate their research and creative enterprises into their teaching.

The work was commissioned for the ‘Material World’ exhibition curated by Dr Lyndon Anderson for the National Museum of Australia.