Chapter 26
Fashioning Circuits, 2011–Present
Kim A. Brillante Knight
Fashioning Circuits uses wearable media as a lens to consider the social and cultural valences of bodies and identities in relation to fashion, technology, labor practices, and craft and maker cultures. A public humanities project, it combines scholarship, university coursework, and community partnerships.
Figure 26.1. This photo was taken in fall 2011 as Brianni Nelson, one of Fashioning Circuits’ co-founding students, finished soldering her first circuit. Her smile and gasp of surprise when the LEDs lit up suggest that this kind of humanities “making” assignment has important pedagogical implications. Format: Public humanities project. Materials: Electronics, coding, sewing, social contexts, and cultural theory. Founder and Director: Kim A. Brillante Knight. Co-founding Students: Brianni Nelson, Elisa Pequini, Amy Pickup, Tameka Reeves, and Mattie Tanner. Research Team: Lisa Bell, Jessica Knott, Jodi Madera-Prado, Andrew J. Miller, Laura Pasquini, and Lari Tanner. Community Team: B Cavello, Sunnye Childers, Lance King, Harrison “Hal” Massey, Patti McLetchie, Sydnie Montgomery, Karla Y. Muñoz, and Lauren Shafer. Photograph by Kim A. Brillante Knight and Brianni Nelson.