“Weaving as World-Making: Entangled Networks and Temporal Resistance” with Nicole Frei

This workshop explores digital networks and the politics of time through hands-on weaving, discussion & collective reflection.

Weaving is both a craft and a cybernetic system—one that encodes patterns, stories, and connections into material and digital forms. Inspired by philosopher and cultural theorist Sadie Plant’s reflections on weaving, cybernetics, and feminism, and guided by Nicole Frei’s experimental approach, this lab invites participants to engage with weaving both practically and conceptually.

Through hands-on experimentation with simple weaving tools (paper, string, wire), participants will explore the intersections of craft, technology, and storytelling. The session includes discussions on weaving as a method of world-making, digital entanglement, and temporal resistance. By creating and reflecting on their woven pieces, participants will investigate how weaving functions as a language—one that bridges analog and digital, human and machine, tradition and speculation. The session culminates in a collective digital tapestry, capturing the threads of individual insights and shared connections.

Language: English with close-captions

Nicole Frei (she/her) is a costume and stage designer working across disciplines at the intersection of fashion and performing arts. Since 2021, she has been part of the Master of Transdisciplinarity Studies program at ZHdK. As an educator and designer, her work explores artistic methods related to chronic illness, challenges production methods in the performing arts, and integrates sustainability through traditional crafts. Her work has received support from Aargauer Kuratorium, Pro Helvetia Shanghai, and the Swiss Design Awards, among others.

This workshop is part of the Unwired Currents—Imagining Technology Otherwise free online program challenging dominant narratives of design, knowledge-making, and technological progress.

The workshop has been curated by Ramona Sprenger and Jeannie Schneider from the Dezentrum think & do tank and is part of the Unwired Currents—Imagining Technology Otherwise larger collaborative project between the think & do tank Dezentrum and Futuress, along with the transnational collective Dreaming Beyond AI, designer and researcher Franca López Barbera, and Matería Oscura.

The program is possible thanks to a generous grant from the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.