Claire Williams Weaves Electromagnetic Waves into Knitted Spectrograms at Code Is Law

In the exhibition 'Code Is Law' at Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris, artist Claire Williams (born 1986, Belgium) presents works that merge computer code with craft, specifically knitting. Her piece 'Spectrogrammes' (since 2014) features a vintage knitting machine that produces a textile portrait of the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles based on electromagnetic waves captured by a handmade copper antenna. The antenna records ambient radio, Wi-Fi, satellite, and natural weather waves, which are converted into binary code and then into knitting patterns. The machine, whose electronics have been hacked, knits rows of pixels representing the invisible spectrum. Also on view are two other knitted spectrograms, including one of a solar flare. Williams' installation 'Ondoscope' (2019-20) uses eight pendulums that vibrate in response to electromagnetic variations, embodying the 'density of emptiness.' Her series 'Glitch Knit' (2012) combines a 1980s knitting machine with corrupted digital files inspired by Ikat weaving techniques researched in Uzbekistan, highlighting the fragility of virtual information. Williams is part of the group show 'Code Is Law,' which references Lawrence Lessig's 1999 essay warning about the regulatory power of code. The exhibition runs until February 28, 2021, with a virtual tour available. A vernissage on February 6, 2021, from 11am to 7pm will feature a performance by Jonathan Schatz (Minakami) at 6:30pm, subject to health restrictions.