Shannon Swinburn

Textile Practicioner

shannon.swinburn@gmail.com

@shanswinburn

Shannon Swinburn is an Textile Artist who is currently a resident at The Sarabande Foundation.Dedicated to exploring the intrinsic connections between gender, textiles, and modern-day computing. Her work aims to highlight the often-overlooked contributions of women in emergent technology, utilizing speculation, counterfactual histories, and material storytelling to bring these narratives to the forefront.

She recently graduated from MA Textiles at the Royal College of Art with an MA in Textiles in 2024, having previously graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA in Graphic Design in 2016.

Awards and Residencies include;The Haberdashers’ Scholarship
(2023), The Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation Prize (2024), and The Textile Society Student Bursary Award (2024), The Blackhorse Workshop Residency (2024), The Sarabande Foundation Studio Residency (2024-2025)

Space-age Needlework
2024
Cotton & Metal

Inspired by a press release that listed the names of some of the women working to weave the CRM modules during the Apollo missions and referred to them as ‘Space-Age Needleworkers’ This module was woven using the same binary technique as the original modules and reads:

‘Space-age Needleworkers’

Avalable at House of Bandits by Sarabande
Currently exhibiting at Selfridges

Give Me Guidance II
2024
Silk, Wool, Metal

‘Give Me Guidance’ is an ongoing project which platforms the contribution of craftswomen to the NASA Apollo missions, through the hand-weaving of Core Rope Computer Memory Modules.

During these missions skilled craftswomen were hire to hand weave Core Rope Computer Memory Modules. These women worked together to weave binary code around or through a core to determine whether it would represent a one or a zero. The women were nicknamed the ‘LOL Department’ which stood for ‘Little Old Ladies.’Often left out of the narrative of the Apollo Missions the names of some of the women were found in only one press release, which read:’Space-age needleworkers weave rope memories: Vernell Norman, Caroline Butler, Helen Lennon, Edna Walcott, and Mary Julian.’

Through the creation of a frame loom inspired by the Apollo Guidance Computer Model AGC-3 I aim to reweave the narrative of the Apollo Missions by presenting a counterfactual history in which the craftswomen were placed at the forefront of the mission’s new headlines. Supported by a speculative newspaper highlighting the feats of the craftswomen through counterfactual headlines, this new guidance computer weaves and encodes such headlines via binary beading in order to hold and foreground the woven memory of these craftswomen who were integral to these missions. Each panel of the loom represents one of the women, along with their speculative headline, and stores the woven memory of Vernell Norman, Helen Lennon and Edna Walcott.

Give Me Guidance
2023
Steel,Cotton, Wool,

‘Give Me Guidance’explores the contribution of skilled craftswomen during the formation of the Apollo Guidance Computer, through the hand weaving of Core Rope Computer Memory Modules (CRCMM), the project aims to platform untold stories of the role of women in the progression of emergent technology and the journey to reach the moon.By creating a new interactive & participatory loom, inspired by the original NASA CRCMM frame, that seeks to remember the craftswomen and highlight their contribution.

This first iteration of the loom is inspired by the frame originally used to craft the computer modules and was developed to include an interactive sound element.

E-waste Passementrie
2024
Silk, Paper, Electrical Components

The E-waste series seeks to Re-craft the computer. Through using E-waste and applying traditional passementerie techniques to the components found inside the pieces the project presents a series of individually technological portraits of E-waste.

The initial series includes a TV Antenna Weave and a Hairdryer Weave.

Core Rope Memory Modules
2023
Silk, Cotton, Cardboard

A series of Handwoven modules inspired by Core Rope Memory modules.The modules were woven using distorted warp and weft techniques to reflect the intricate lace of the wires of the modules themselves. The colours within these pieces were drawn from vinatge computer manuals and control rooms as shown through early iterations of yarn windings that they were inspired by.

Sprang
2024
Cotton & Wool

Experiments with the ancient technique of Sprang. The technique uses only warp threads without the introduction of a weft to create intricate patterns.This technique had previously become almost extinct and is still considered an endangered craft skill. Through learning this skill I hope to find new innovative applications for the process.

Colour Development
2023

Development of colour palette through material research and observations through photography.