DESIGN AND
MAKING IN THE
TRINIDAD CARNIVAL:
Histories, Re-imaginations,
and Speculations of Computational
Design Futures
Exhibition Details
Nov 16, 2022
Price Gilbert Exhibits Gallery
The Georgia Institute of Technology
704 Cherry St NW Atlanta, GA 30313
Supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; the College of Design, the School of Architecture, the Georgia Tech. Library, and the School of Interactive Computing at The Georgia Institute of Technology.
CURATOR
Vernelle A. A. Noel
CURATORIAL ASSISTANCE
Kirk Henderson
ARTWORKS BY
Vernelle A. A. Noel
EXHIBITION COORDINATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Catherine Manci
Kimberly Goler-Stubbs
ADVISORY TEAM
Susan Sanders
Michael Nitsche
Jason Freeman
Carl DiSalvo
Nassim Parvin
GRAPHIC DESIGN LEAD
Ankith Ratakonda
INSTALLATION ASSISTANCE
Sanaz Ahmadzadeh Siyahrood
Ryan Stoddard
SPONSORS
This exhibition is generously supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; The College of Design, The School of Architecture, the Georgia Tech Library, and the School of Interactive Computing at The Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vision
The Design and Making in the Trinidad Carnival exhibition features multiple investigations, interpretations, and re-conceptualizations of the craft of wire-bending in the Trinidad Carnival. Wire-bending inscribes a milieu of interactions between the senses, the moving body and the community while designing with dynamic linear materials. The exhibition also presents answers to the interdisciplinary question, “What is a line?” through traditional and new forms of making with new imaginations about the nature and significance of lines in culture, cognition, and technology. It showcases lines as cognitive expressions; codes; and structures in drawings, artifacts, sculptures, and more.
Curator Biography
Dr. Vernelle A. A. Noel is a design scholar, architect, artist, and founding Director of the Situated Computation + Design Lab. Her research examines traditional and automated making cultures and practices, interdisciplinary creativity, and their intersections with society. Dr. Noel’s scholarship and expertise include design in the Trinidad Carnival, craft practices, architecture, and art. She builds new expressions, tools, and methodologies to explore social, cultural, and political aspects of making, computational design, and emerging technology for new social and technical reconfigurations of design practice, pedagogy, and publics. Before joining Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Interactive Computing, Dr. Noel was an Assistant Professor of Architecture & Computational Design at the University of Florida.
Dr. Noel’s work in design and computation has been supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Mozilla Foundation, and ideas2innovation (i2i), among others. Her TEDx Talk is titled, “The Power of Making: Craft, Computation, and Carnival.” Dr. Noel is a recipient of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES Young Award for exceptional research and scholarship in the field of critical computational design. She was a Keynote Speaker at ACADIA 2020, and has been featured on Madame Architect.
Vernelle has practiced as an architect in the USA, India, and Trinidad & Tobago and is the founder, creator, and editor of Architecture Caribbean, an online platform that showcased and promoted design by Caribbean nationals. She is currently on the board of ACADIA, and Co-Chair of ACADIA 2021.
Gallery
Program Booklet
Virtual Exhibition
Acknowledgements
Design and Making in the Trinidad Carnival: Histories, Re-imaginations, and Speculations of Computational Design Futures is an exhibition conceptualized and curated by Vernelle A. A. Noel. The exhibition draws from several years of ethnographic and design research by the curator. It will be accompanied by a two-day symposium in February 2023 at the Price Gilbert Lecture Hall at Georgia Tech. Stay tuned.
The curator gratefully acknowledges the contributions to this project by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; The College of Design, The School of Architecture, the Georgia Tech. Library, and the School of Interactive Computing at The Georgia Institute of Technology.
For being so generous with their time, knowledge, stories, and histories of wire-bending, I thank expert wire-benders Albert Bailey (1936 - 2022), Narcenio ‘Señor’ Gomez (1931-2016), Stephen Derek (1952-2016), Roland St. George (1947-2019). Thank you to other lovers of and makers in mas’ such as Tony Tang Kai, Meiling, Robert Frederick, Lari Richardson, Liselle Astread Frauenfelder, Robert Miller, Glendon Morris, Todd Gulick, Peter Minshall, James Hackett, Clary Salandy, Narrie Approo, and many more. For providing essential support, advice, and encouragement, Kirk Henderson, Catherine Manci, Susan Sanders, Michael Nitsche, Jason Freeman, Carl DiSalvo, Nassim Parvin, Mark Cottle, Charlie Hailey, and Maryrose Kramer. For all their hard work, I warmly and gratefully acknowledge Ankith Ratakonda, Sanaz Ahmadzadeh Siyahrood, RyanStoddard, and John Wilson. Thank you to Yousef Bushehri, Hayri Dortdivanlioglu, Dr. Julie B. Johnson, Lauren Neefe, Shady Radical, Tambra Omiyale Harris, Holly Smith, and Morgan Hawkins for their support and beautiful hands. Thank you to all my colleagues (faculty and staff) in the School of Architecture for their continued support.
Vernelle A. A. Noel, 2022.