2012 WORK IN PROGRESS… Semi-automated collaborations between man and machine. Because so much of our work as KOBAKANT has focused on handcraft techniques involving readily available hand tools, this series of E-Textiles designs was (and will be) made explicitly involving mechanized equipment and semi-automated processes without discounting the skill of human involvement.

2012 WORK IN PROGRESS… Imagine a future in which electronics have become expensive goods, that only the rich can afford and only skilled craftsman are trusted to work into functional electronic artifacts. In this future scenario it has become common practice for wealthy individuals to commission custom wearable electronic items that fulfill their future needs [...]

KOBAKANT will be presenting at the OPEN CULTURE + WEARABLES panel at the ISEA conference, Istanbul. Unfortunately only Mika will be there (it is not sure if Hannah can make it) but she will be presenting our thoughts about “The Future Master Craftsperson: How To Get What You Want”. The panel will be held on [...]

We will be exhibiting Eight Steps at the Soft Technology Exhibition at stiftelsen 3,14 Bergen Norway from 19th August to 25th September 2011. The exhibition is curated by Hillevi Munthe and co-curated by Hilde Hauan, featuring e-textile projects. If you happen to be around, please visit! exhibition website>>

2011/12 WORK IN PROGRESS… Closed Circuit Crochet is a technique developed by grandmothers over the past years due to the availability of conductive yarns. These materials offer a wide range of possibilities to be incorporated in traditional knitwear as sensors. Grandmothers seized this opportunity to combine their excellence in needlework with their curiosity for their [...]

Mika will be doing a Solar T-shirt workshop in Switzerland. This one day workshop takes place on 20th and 21st of November in two locations, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zurich and [plug.in], Basel

2010 Eight Steps depicts the making-of a wearable instrument. Based on a series of workshops that focus on unveiling the black box of technology in order to demonstrate how everyday electronic objects can be opened up and modified to better suit our personal needs and desires. In the workshops we make use of cheap electronic [...]

Eight Steps will be exhibited at the new Design Museum in Holon, Israel as Part of Designing Machines Exhibition. It opens on 14th October, 2010 and shown until 1st January, 2011

2009 This KOBAKANT DIY wearable technology documentation aims to be a comprehensible, accessible and maintainable reference resource, as well as a basis for further exploration and contribution. go to website>> www.kobakant.at/DIY

2009 Massage me for your feet!

2009 A project series inspired by cows and technology. This collection of projects featuring cows inside the black box reflects some of our humorous attitude towards technology.

2008 Inspired by Joergen Leth’s 1967 short film “The Perfect Human” and Lars von Trier’s “The Five Obstructions” (2003). This performance intends to create a sixth obstruction of The Perfect Human, by introducing rules in order to complete the performance as a game.

2008 A series of performances that use customized editions of the Puppeteer motion-capture suit to communicate concepts concerning the use of motion, gesture and the spoken word as forms of communication.

2007 The performance “Ein kleines Puppenspiel” by Friedrich Kirschner is a live animated puppet play that uses the Puppeteer motion-capture suit as, well as gametracks, to puppeteer the two main digital characters in the story as well as controll a virtual camera in the 3D space.

2007 + 2008 A wearable costume for motion-capture

2007 A wearable massage interface that turns a video game player’s excess energy into a back massage for an innocent bystander.

Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson have been collaborating since 2006, and in 2008 formed the collective KOBAKANT. Together, through their work, they explore the use of textile crafts and electronics as a medium for commenting on technological aspects of today’s “high-tech” society. KOBAKANT believes in the spirit of humoring technology, often presenting their work as [...]

Email Hannah and Mika of KOBAKANT >> diy@kobakant.at