MDEFest Fabrication Challenge
Last updated
Last updated
As part of the MDEF Microchallenge on Multimodal Systemic Artifacts, I used this intense week to bring my long-running project Sweat Matters closer to its final form. Instead of jumping into fabrication, my approach focused on deep material experimentation: testing, comparing, and refining all aspects of my system using real garments.
The goal? To build a reactive T-shirt system that reveals sweat as data, expression, and transformation. The final setup will involve two T-shirts:
A narrative artifact, decorated with BTB dye, biomaterials, and copper crystals, used to explain and embody my journey during the MDEFest performance.
A data-collection T-shirt, simpler and dye-only, which I will wear in real public situations to record and visualize sweat patterns as part of an evolving cartography.
This week allowed me to shift from testing on textile scraps to working directly on commercial T-shirts, which brought me much closer to the reality of my final artifact. Every experiment I ran had a purpose: every liquid, fabric, mordant, and dye concentration was part of a system I had to understand to move forward.
This week didn’t feel like a Microchallenge, it felt like I was doing a full-on research thesis. While my peers were prototyping or building physical structures, I spent my days surrounded by fabric swatches, labeled samples, dye baths, and pipettes. At one point I looked at my workspace and realized I had become a mad scientist of sweat.
What made the difference was the structure and pressure. I had already been exploring sweat and BTB for months, but this was the first time I had to organize everything: define variables, test systematically, and document every step. I couldn’t just explore, I had to decide. What fabric works best? What mordant, what dye method, what reaction matters?
The shift to real garments showed me how small changes, like BTB concentration or mordant type, completely affect the visual and functional outcome. It was also the first time I tested my biomaterial lettering, copper crystal attempts, and how sweat reacts live during a performance. The feedback I got from others helped me see my work more clearly, and seeing how random things connected across different people’s projects added unexpected energy.
I was also able to help classmates by sharing my materials and data, which made the week feel collaborative and generative beyond my personal goal.
Thanks to this challenge, I now know: - Which T-shirt (Sample 6/7) is the most responsive and expressive - The ideal BTB concentration and mordant method - That fabric drying and dye uniformity are key - And that cartography of sweat will only make sense if I document and compare everything properly
From here, I will move on to producing my final pieces—both the expressive artifact and the cartography version, and begin field testing. This challenge gave me not just results, but the confidence and system to finish what I’ve started.
Next stop: Sweat on stage at MDEFest.
Check my in Hackster.io
