Anke Loh
Spring 2024
CHICAGO—January 26, 2024. The International Museum of Surgical Science (IMSS) is pleased to announce their Spring 2024 Artist in Residence: Anke Loh. The IMSS continues its active role in supporting Chicago regional arts and artists through its Artist in Residency and “Anatomy in the Gallery” rotating contemporary art galleries. Loh’s residency will culminate in a capstone exhibition scheduled to open later in 2024.
Anke Loh is a Chicago-based fashion designer and is Full Professor in the Department of Fashion at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Loh is a fashion designer by training, and has worked at the nexus of art, technology and fashion for more than 15 years. Her current work focuses on the development of touch-sensitive textiles for the medical community, utilizing the Residency to gain an understanding of how pain before and after surgery can affect the five senses, and how that has changed over time.
“I am excited to be awarded the Spring 2024 Artist in Residence position at the International Museum of Surgical Science. The unparalleled historical artifacts and resources about the five senses at the Museum will help my ongoing and future touch-sensitive textile developments to engage the senses to improve healing and soothe pain.” -Anke Loh
Anke Loh Artist Statement:
I am a fashion designer by training, and have worked at the nexus of art, technology and fashion for more than 15 years. With a focus on textile development and wear- able technology, my practice explores ways of supporting people with disabilities, those recovering from disease, and people who are socially isolated or marginalized. My collaborative approach often convenes physicians, scientists, designers, artists and community members.
A major focus of my work has been the development of touch-sensitive textiles that trigger sound recordings and other kinds of outputs. On numerous occasions, my work has been integrated with the medical field. Under the auspices of a DAAD Faculty Research Grant, I developed a new kind of touch-sensitive head covering (“cap”) with the capacity to record the brain waves (EEG) of patients with epilepsy, in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University and Berlin’s Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. As a result of that work, I subsequently became involved with the Los Angeles-based Not Impossible Foundation for the design of BrainWriter, a path-breaking technology that enables people to communicate using their brain waves. Our design and the process of training patients how to use it was presented at Digital Revolution, an immersive exhibition of art, design, film, music and video games at London’s Barbican Centre in 2014. These projects ultimately enriched my work, curriculum and student experience, with the inclusion of a section on fashion for people with disabilities.
The initial phase of the project I am proposing launched in 2021 as part of a collaborative project called Re-FREAM | Embroidered Touch | Life Space, with the goal of exploring the future of fashion and technology. I collaborated with the Fraunhofer IZM in Berlin to develop touch-sensitive embroidered sweaters.
When touched, circuits embroidered on the sweaters’ surface trigger sound palettes recorded from communities in Berlin and Chicago. The results were exhibited in Berlin, Madrid, Bilbao and in Chicago (Spring 2022). An earlier iteration of the project I am proposing to the International Museum of Surgical Science features embroidered touch-sensitive tablecloths, called Table Talk, A Sense of Place and Play. Touching the tablecloths triggers sounds assembled from field recordings of nature and urban spaces. The work was exhibited at FACILITY Chicago in Fall 2022, and will be shown in Montreal in Fall 2023 for the exhibition: Textile Design Now at Centre de Design de l’UQAM.
My long-term research objective is to expand and discover new ways for technology to impact, as well as alleviate, feelings of isolation among marginalized communities. This approach is informed by the pandemic, as well as social unrest in the US. It also is a response to a need for change throughout the fashion industry to foster more sustainable practices for creating, producing and consuming garments.
In addition to serving a functional purpose, clothing acts as our second skin, conveying who we are to the world. Creating responsibly made textiles that communicate with diverse environments informs my current practice.
Read more about Anke Loh’s work at http://ankeloh.net/
Selected Works:
Re-FREAM https://re-fream.eu/pioneers/embroidered-touch/
http://ankeloh.net/2021/10/re-fream-embroidered-touch-life-space/#2
The process and final results are documented in the six-minute video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcGSuPCjbs
on green sweater and then heat-bonded to hardware/circuit board to make the design touch sensitive.
About the Artist in Residence Program: As artistic practice occupies an increasingly pluralistic field, The International Museum of Surgical Science believes that artists are uniquely equipped to extrapolate Museum collections in innovative ways and introduce novel perspectives to the institutional depiction of medical history. The IMSS Artist Residency Program provides working artists access to the Museum’s extensive collections and archive, visibility on the Museum’s website and social media channels, and a month-long capstone Solo Exhibition (or equivalent presentation) at the Museum.
About the Museum: The International Museum of Surgical Science, a Division of the International College of Surgeons, was founded in 1954 by Dr. Max Thorek. The Museum is committed to enriching lives by enhancing an appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances in surgery and related subjects in health and medicine. The Museum is located in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood and is housed in a historic lake-shore mansion designed in the early 20th century by Howard Van Doren Shaw.
General Information: The International Museum of Surgical Science: 1524. N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL – 60610; tel. 312.642.6502; on the web at www.imss.org and info@imss.org.
This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
This project is supported, in whole or in part, by federal assistance listing number, 21.027 awarded to the International Museum of Surgical Science by the US Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds in the amount of $125,000.00, representing 83% of total project funding.
This project is partially supported by a Chicago Arts Recovery Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
The International Museum of Surgical Science acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
