In this project, I wanted to showcase my home country's silk pattern. It is very interesting to me because Thailand's silk patterns are very different from each other depending on the region. My most favorite pattern is the intricate design of the north eastern region of Thailand. So, I picked the pattern shown below. ("กลุ่มทอผ้าไหมบ้านกุดแห่ จ.หนองบัวลำภู ผ้าขิดไหมทอมือ แหล่งเดียวของอีสาน" 2017)

Unfortunately, the region is not well developed, so the creators (silk spinners) have to depend on traditional silk making methods. However, because it is not developed, we are lucky to have been able to preserve the old traditions and silk patterns that has been passed along for generations. Everything is still done manually. The tool that silk spinners use is still made out of wood and is heavily dependent on the human labor. The tool can be seen below.

As for the opitical illusion, I wanted to add another piece of silk pattern on top to obscure the first pattern I chose. I found the perfect pattern for it, which is central Thailand's silk pattern. This pattern originated from Persian cloths that were traded during the Ayutthaya (14th-18th century) period. The thai word for this type of cloth is "Kao Mah", it originated from the persian word "Kamar band". ("ข้างหลังผ้า" 2019)

Process: Translating Design Pattern into Code

I started off by parsing the silk patterns into small sections. I know that I have to use a for loop to replicate the intricate patterns, so this process really helped. The parsed patterns can be seen on the left of the image. Afterwards, I combined the small patterns together to see how the end design should look like. This can be seen on the right of the image below.

Breaking down the pattern this way helped make it easier to visualize the end product and it also helped me parse the pattern down to small chunks. This made creating the for loop for each segment of the pattern more intuitive. Recreating the northeastern Thai pattern was the most challenging. On the other hand, because the "Kao Mah" silk pattern is pretty straight forward with multiple rectangles.

Reflection

The impact and effects of translating the pattern into a digital, animating form
Through this process, I learned that recreating a traditional pattern in a digital form was not that hard with the right tools. The time it takes to complete the pattern is much shorter than creating it in a physical form. The average time to create a whole metre of thai silk is about three days, while it only took me 10 hours to create this whole piece. Because the pattern is stored in a digital form, it was also easy to animate the pattern and fix any mistakes that I've made. Lastly, the for loop reduced the amount of code lines whereelse this is not possible in the physical world.

In my opinion, the patterns created by code loses its authenticity, it is hard to replicate the jagged lines and the texture of the fabric. Eventhough digitalizing the pattern can be another way to preserve and spread culture, nothing can replace the physical form of the product. It is especially worrisome if we decide to digitalize and mass produce everything. The value of tradition, culture, and history will be lost. So I still think it is important that we, as part of humanity, still preserve our culture and continue to pass on the tradition in the physical world.

How does creating an optical illusion recontextualizes how the pattern was traditionally used & understood?
By creating an optical illusion with central Thailand's silk pattern, I learned that digitalizing the pattern creates a new type of product. Because the product itself becomes lines of codes rather than a physical form of silk cloth, it is easier to reuse and distribute it as a digitial asset. Designers and artists can use the asset in different forms such as icons, logos, and t-shirt print patterns. Moreover, the digital asset can be distributed to the world through the internet. I see it as a form of spreading culture through the digital world.

Citation
2019."ข้างหลังผ้า". The Cloud. https://readthecloud.co/pakaoma/.
2017."กลุ่มทอผ้าไหมบ้านกุดแห่ จ.หนองบัวลำภู ผ้าขิดไหมทอมือ แหล่งเดียวของอีสาน". Thailand Top Vote https://www.thailandtopvote.com/ที่เที่ยว/ที่เที่ยว-77-จังหวัด/46682/.