For centuries, fiber arts have influenced practical, theoretical, and pedagogical areas of the sciences as diverse as digital technology, mathematics, neuroscience, medicine, and more. Radical Fiber: Threads Connecting Art and Science explores this relationship through contemporary art and historical artifacts centered on four key themes: shape, body, brain and machine. A celebration of interdisciplinary creativity and collaborative learning, Radical Fiber foregrounds each work as at once fine art, process-driven craft, and scientific tool, complicating existing frameworks across fields. Can a crochet hook and yarn uniquely explain the complexities of non-Euclidean geometry? Why does the 1804 Jacquard loom relate to modern computing? How did the accidental discovery of synthetic mauveine dye in 1856 pave the way for modern pharmaceuticals yet also generate toxic environmental impact? Why do we respond differently to a woven photograph than a printed one? These and other questions will reframe the histories of fiber/science intersections and ask not only how artists continue to engage in scientific inquiry through fiber, but also importantly, how the medium can be used to improve our world for the future.

Schedule for Friday, January 28

All times are Eastern Standard Time

11 am–12 pm: Curator’s tour of the Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef
Part of the worldwide Crochet Coral Reef project by Christine and Margaret Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring.

1–1:15 pm: Welcome

• Ian Berry, Tang Dayton Director

• Rebecca McNamara, Tang Associate Curator

1:15-2:30 pm: “Threads Throughout History”

• Elissa Auther, Craft Curator and Scholar

• Dario Robleto, Artist

2:45–4 pm: “Making Visible: Math, Craft, Culture”

• John Sims, MathArtist, Writer, and Curator

• Jeffrey Splitstoser, Anthropologist

• Daina Taimina, Mathematician and Artist

• Moderated by Stephen Ornes, Science Writer

4–4:30 pm: Day 1 Discussion
A Zoom conversation open to all attendees to meet and talk about the first day of the symposium. Moderated by Associate Curator Rebecca McNamara.

About the Crochet Coral Reef

The Crochet Coral Reef is project created by sisters Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring. Residing at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft, and community art practice, the project responds to the environmental crisis of global warming and the escalating problem of oceanic plastic trash by highlighting not only the damage humans do to earth’s ecology, but also our power for positive action. The Wertheims’ Crochet Coral Reef collection has been exhibited worldwide, including at the 2019 Venice Biennale, Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), Hayward Gallery (London), Science Gallery (Dublin), and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). The project also encompasses a community-art program in which more than 20,000 people around the world have participated in making 50 locally based Satellite Reefs—in New York, Chicago, Melbourne, Ireland, Latvia, UAE, and elsewhere. The Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef on display here is the latest addition to this ever-evolving wooly archipelago.