This research task has been focused around the subject of haptic and the influence for this project is skin, quite a broad beginning. My initial research began with thinking about skin and  what different aspects there were to researching skin other than the simple fact that it is where our touch sensors are. Thinking about touch made me think about nerves and nerve endings. Which obviously lead to me looking at skin under the microscope and therefore books about anatomy and the human body. I found many images in a book called Super Vision (Amato, 2003, p126) about human skin but I also came across this fascinating image of a dogs skin under the microscope.

 This then inspired me to look into other animals and what their skin would look like under the microscope. Which immediately resulted in finding fascinating images of sharks skin under the microscope and how textile and pattern like it looked. In particular this image of a tiger shark’s skin.

 I then wanted to find further information about the structure of shark skin. Why it was made up of scales. Firstly I found a BBC article about a scientist George Lauder, who has replicate the structure of shark skin (made up of dermal denticles) with a  3D printer. Both to gain a a better understanding of how it helps them manoeuvre in  the water but also for the potential to develop  innovative textiles for swim wear. As well as this I also found and information on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum  (https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/outside-the-spacecraft/online/image-detail.cfm?id=9823) about how shark skin was being used to develop space gloves to give a better sense of touch and grip.

 

 

 

 

 

Further online research produced a different train of thought, that of textile weave structures – actually called Shark skin. A type of weave for a particular design of suit found on a blog called Department of Textilesmithing [4] (https://textilesmithing.com/2011/02/22/weaves-with-animal-names/). It is described as having a ‘shimmering’ effect.

From a relatively simple search into the structure of the human skin, my research as evolved into scientific 3D printing and innovative textile development. This sophisticated replication of shark skin is something I won’t achieve but it is good to look into how the structures are replicated and be used as inspiration. It was good to get a more in depth inside into the subject of ‘skin’. It was quite difficult to find any museum exhibitions on the subject of shark skin replication but I did find some very interesting articles. And quite varied. I can use this in weave development work as using the very 3D representation of shark denticles but also can use the pattern of the Sharkskin weave.

References

[1] Amato, I. (2003). Super vision. New York: Harry N. Abrams

[2] Cracked.com. (2017). 8 Ordinary Things That Look Insanely Cool Under a Microscope. [online] Available at: http://www.cracked.com/article_20386_8-ordinary-things-that-look-insanely-cool-under-microscope.html [Accessed 16 Oct. 2017].

[3] BBC News. (2017). 3D printing used to model shark skin. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27409836 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017].

[4] Winner, S. (2011). Sharkskin, Herringbone and Houndstooth. [Blog] Department of Textilesmithing. Available at: https://textilesmithing.com/2011/02/22/weaves-with-animal-names/.

Airandspace.si.edu. (2017). Shark Skin Close Up. [online] Available at: https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/outside-the-spacecraft/online/image-detail.cfm?id=9823 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2017].

ArtsThread. (2017). eXTENDING THE BODY, hAIR aND sKIN – Swatch Collection – ArtsThread. [online] Available at: http://www.artsthread.com/portfolios/extendingthebodyhairandskin-swatchcollection/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2017].

Ewing, W. (1996). Inside information. London: Thames & Hudson.

Muttermuseum.org. (2017). Our Finest Clothing: A Layered History of Our Skin. [online] Available at: http://muttermuseum.org/exhibitions/our-finest-clothing-a-layered-history-of-our-skin/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2017].