The Bailey-Derek Grammar: Recording the Craft of Wire-Bending in the Trinidad Carnival

Abstract

This paper presents work on the development of a shape grammar that records the dying, undocumented craft of wire-bending in the Trinidad Carnival. This craft is important for the building and continuation of cultural heritage and identity. Due to the lack of prior research in this non-Western design practice, the author conducted site visits, interviews and observations, and visually examined wire-bent artifacts in Trinidad to develop this grammar. This paper presents the materials, steps and shape rules that begin to synthesize the craft, as well as one design. This study and the resulting grammar have positive implications for design education and practice.

The question of access: Toward an equitable future of computational design

“…This situated craft practice has been disappearing due to a declining number of practitioners, an absence of comprehensive pedagogy, and changing practices in the Carnival, to name a few. 25 Although historically a male-dominated practice, there has been renewed interest in the craft by creatives, artists, designers, and craft-lovers of different ages and genders. 18,26 In wire-bending, linear materials like wire, cane, fiberglass and plastic rods, etc., are sculpted, bent, and assembled to create 2D and 3D-forms.…”

“…Previous research by the author introduced a computational method for describing the wire-bending craft: the Bailey-Derek Grammar. 25 The method addresses the lack of documentation in this embodied practice and validates its ability to restore craft and create new social roles. While recasting wire-bending in formal and procedural terms aids in recording and transmitting this knowledge, it reduces the craft to a set of static and immobile rules-neglecting its social, corporeal, and material characteristics.…”

“…18 It also builds on the development of digital approaches to wire-bending with speculative software, digital technologies, and methods. 25,41 Inquiry into access and how it is operationalized in digital fabrication and computation practices centering hands-on making, sociality, corporeality, and materiality in craft combined surveys, open-ended interviews, artifact analysis, and participant observation. Through surveys, participants indicated their levels of experience in wire-bending, digital design, and fabrication tools and methods before and after their participation.…”

Hybrid Embroidery: Exploring Interactive Fabrication in Handcrafts

“…Digital practitioners who advocate coding as their creative medium seek a greater intimacy with the machine and its outputs [11]. With the rapid development of visual computing interfaces, more designers and artists are bringing programming and emerging technologies into traditional crafts [12][13][14]. In the domain of computational textile fabrication, woven objects are a very promising application [15].…”

Wire bending in 3D projects as educational way UOP. Design Students as a case study

“…Aligned with the concepts briefly indicated above, some researchers have sought to combine culture, and craft, through wire bending designing and making, with different degrees of success. Unfortunately, wire bending practice is disappearing due to a number of factors, including the death of the older generation of craftsmen, the lack of a system for pedagogy to pass their knowledge to others, and the younger generations' lack of interest in handcrafts, along with their desire to engage with digital technologies specially with design students (Noel 2015;2019a)11 On the other hand, difficulty using materials to produce threedimensional models in design education. Also, the use of modern technology was discontinuing students from using manual skills, which led to a lack of creativity in designs.…”