Handmade Universe: From craft to code and the spaces between | State Library Victoria

Handmade Universe was an exhibition that celebrates the intrinsic rewards of creation and the boundless potential it offers for innovation and exploration.

Spanning diverse disciplines, from craftsmanship to coding, and from astronomy to botany, the works featured in this exhibition illustrate how solitary and contemplative self-guided exploration can serve as a potent means of connecting with universal themes of place, culture, and identity.

At the heart of this exhibition lies 'Stargazing: a knitted tapestry,' a stellar map meticulously crafted by engineer and artist Sarah Spencer. To bring this intricate artwork to life, she ingeniously modified a vintage 1980s knitting machine, incorporating LED lights into each star.

One of the primary design challenges revolved around creating an ambiance that encouraged visitor interaction while also providing a contemplative 'stargazing' experience with the map.

Microsite here.

Press for Handmade Universe: ABC Artworks, TimeOut, ArtsHub, Broadsheet.

For this unique show, State Library Victoria collaborated with Studio Peter King to create an innovative approach for appreciating and engaging with the Starmap.

Numerous challenges arose when installing such a large functional artwork within the gallery, many of which were related to designing for a heritage space.

To address these challenges, we devised an angled frame capable of securely holding the large-scale map at an angle, accompanied by a cushioned wedge that provides visitors with a comfortable seating or reclining area in front of the map.

The big frame designed for the map also serves as a platform for displaying various items and artworks on its side walls and hosts an immersive audiovisual experience within. Meanwhile, the wedge offers a convenient seating area along with tablets for visitors to enjoy videos and printed exhibition publications.

To make the Starmap come to life, I designed an interactive for the public to use the map in different ways:

Map mode: Visitors tap on the constellation and it lights up the corresponding LEDs on the map. On-screen, visitors can read information about constellations or specific stars and planets.
Drawing mode: Visitors can draw their own constellations on the tablet by using different colors and brush sizes. Once done they tap on play and the stars on the giant map light up to display the visitor-made constellations.
Dreaming mode: When the interactive is not being used, the Starmap starts 'dreaming' of its past interactions with visitors. Displaying visitor-made constellations at random.