2023-24 Ida Ely Rubin Artist in Residence Chloe Bensahel and Zach Lieberman’s MIT Media Lab Future Sketches group conduct new research around textile and memory, building on MIT’s legacy as the first place to weave memory technologies.

Chloe Bensahel considers textiles to be containers of information, carrying language, stories, and belief systems woven in by the human mind. Her recent work uses conductive thread technologies to create textiles that can “speak” their own stories through elements like sound and light.

At MIT, Bensahel dove into historical innovations that harnessed textiles as potent forms of code in order to create new memory technologies using traditional textile techniques.

Chloe Bensahel’s MIT residency was supported by a grant from the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology and co-presented with the MIT Media Lab and the Art, Culture, and Technology program at MIT. Chloe Bensahel’s Villa Albertine residency was conducted in partnership with the Mobilier national and with the support of Bettencourt Schueller Foundation. Technical support and equipment access provided by Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), a non-profit institute focused on invigorating the US textile industry through innovative technology, collaboration, and education.

More about Chloe Bensahel here: arts.mit.edu/people/chloe-bensahel

Direction: Heidi Erickson
Videography: Bruce Petchek, Seven Generations Video
Post-Production: Yari Wolinsky, Trillium Studios