TFRC taking time

TFRC Launch Event from Chris Ralls on Vimeo.

The launch of TFRC as a Centre was only 6 months ago but already there has been much activity and new direction, including the development of the four different Research areas (Science; Digital; Sustainability and Identity & Reflection) through workshops and lectures and the involvement of TFRC members in the VF Future Fashion Textile Student Competition across the UAL.

The launch event saw TFRC members create a collaborative artwork together with David Littler of Sampler-Culture Clash. We sat together as a group drawing onto a very long piece of grid paper, which was then punched with holes. The paper was then fed through a wind up machine that created delicate sounds that were mixed and sampled to create what we called 'textile music'.

David had even developed a play list of songs that have a textile theme - see the list here.

Looking back on that small action, it says alot about the nature of collaboration - true collaboration, where people are able to bring their diverse skills and interests to meet at a point and create something better together takes a huge amount of trust and willingness to try things differently. Most importantly, it takes time, and TFRC is really only at the beginnings of this journey.