Veronika Aumann
Biography
Veronika Aumann is a textile designer and researcher based in Berlin. She researches at the Textile- and Surface Design departement at kunsthochschule berlin weißensee on shapechanging materials and wearables, and as freelance designer for experimental textiles. For her ongoing research on ‘screenstoffe’, a (still) fictional material that is textile and screen at the same time, she is collaborating with engineers form Fraunhofer IZM, Berlin. Veronika Aumann studied at kunsthochschule berlin weißensee and Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, is co-founder of Pattern Studio and member of the interdisciplinary collective Verein der Gestaltung, Berlin.
screenstoff is a material that acts and feels like a textile and functions as a screen at the same time. The idea of screenstoff is not yet realisable, hence a prototype, screenstoff#1, is created using current technology. screenstoffs’ specific qualities as a new medium are presented as a collection of possibilities, which mirrors interesting phenomena of the soft, wearable and adaptive textile screen. Starting from the notion of a material, which behaves and feels like a textile, yet simultaneously functions as a screen, this project formed an investigation into the so-called Screenstoffe. This ‘screen-fabric’ is defined as the actual fusion of a high-resolution screen and a high-quality dress fabric, without losing the qualities of either component. The technological, creative and theoretical research into the Screenstoffe is visualised through the chosen garment: a coat. A collection of conceptual possibilities is presented in the form of 3D simulations, showing the characteristics and conditions of the future material. The Screenstoff #1, produced in cooperation with the Fraunhofer IZM, shows a material development which would be technically possible today. Together with the theoretical basis, this forms the foundation work for a research question that involves the fields of media theory and design: what if there were clothes made of fabrics which also function as screens?