Decolonized Technology: Thinking Beyond Aesthetics and Slow Production Techniques

At last year’s Istanbul Biennial, I came across a beautiful project by Ebru Kurbak called Stitching Worlds. It comprised of objects like an embroidered computer which uses traditional textile techniques and a sound recorder made with yarn, a playful demonstration of how the complex technologies of today might be made from hand spinning.

The working embroidered computer by Ebru Kurbak. Photo from Dezeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/02/ebru-kurbak-embroidered-computer-stitching-worlds-istanbul/

The Yarn Recorder can play and record sounds. Photo from Dezeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/02/ebru-kurbak-embroidered-computer-stitching-worlds-istanbul/

The works each explore traditional textile techniques, such as knitting, weaving, crochet, embroidery, and how they can be adapted to produce electronic objects. The exhibition posed the question: What if electronics emerged from more traditional textile production methods such as knitting, weaving, crochet, and embroidery? How would technology be different if craftspeople were the catalysts to the electronics industry, via textiles manufacturing?

In an interview with Dezeen, Ebru Kurbak and Irene Posch, who led the Stitching Worlds project said, "Through its mere existence, it evokes one of the many imaginable alternative histories of computing technology and stories of plausible alternatives to our present daily lives." But, feeling a bit dissatisfied, I thought that, at the end of the day, a computer is still a computer.

Beyond aesthetics and slow production techniques, perhaps truly decolonized technology is about the purpose and meaning inscribed within it — what it’s made for and how we use it. What are the value systems that we embed in the design of our technological devices? Amidst current exploitative systems, what might technology look like if it were developed through more spiritual sensibilities? What might it look like if it optimized empathy, intuition & connectedness instead of efficiency & productivity?

I began to speculate…

Below are a few ideas I roughly prototyped.

Designed to facilitate energy healing. Playing with the concept of sensors, the Copper Anti-glove is made with copper thread, a material known to be a healing metal which facilitates energy transfer. It is a device designed to aid in Reiki practice, amplifying energy and focusing it towards one’s subject.

How can we use nature as an interface rather than as a resource?

Water magnifies our prayers. When we pray over it, it evaporates and carries with it our intentions, spreading it across space and time.

New-age spiritual beliefs involve using stones/crystals for various mystical purposes. What if we communicated through non-verbal frequencies rather than words? This version of a smartphone uses the energetic properties of stones and transmits frequencies through copper thread, a metal known for facilitating energy transfer.