Winter Quilt, by Mouna Andraos

The Winter Quilt is a winter artistic installation for large snowfields. Working in the field of new media for over ten years, Mouna Andraos deconstructs electronic objects of every day to re-invent them with a touch of poetry …

Mouna Andraos, research and creation residency
Winter 2009

Winter Quilt

The Winter Quilt is an artistic installation created for large snowfields. Both a cover and
a veil, the work is a large-format quilt that can be spread out in any snowy area and thus
create an ad hoc public space. The Winter Quilt gives rise to improvised encounters in
urban environments that have become unfavourable due to cold winter temperatures. The
work also provides opportunities for spontaneous play and games on a large scale.

The quilt is portable, retractable, and can be installed almost anywhere due to a diverse
system of hooks and anchors specially designed for urban environments.

Visual research elements for the Winter Quilt by Mouna Andraos

Imagine the quilt installed….

First installation prototype, crocheted version, produced in collaboration with Sonali
Sridhar and Doris Cacoilo.

SAT Residency

The SAT residency is divided into three research and creation sections:

1-Firstly, the objective is to research the possibility of making the quilt more interactive
by adding tangible interfaces for the public. This research component will be particularly
focused on the creation of sensors for the fabric as well as on the translation of specific
interactions with the fabric into sound or light.

2-The second objective of this residency is to create complete prototypes of all of the
Quilt elements (cloth, anchors and patterns, fastening systems, solar power system, sound
interface).

3-The third section of the residency will pertain to a series of three workshops wherein
the public will be invited to contribute to the making of the Quilt. These day-long
meetings will allow artists and artisans interested in electronic couture to learn and
implement some of the techniques developed during the residency.

Biography

Working in the new media domain for over ten years, Mouna Andraos deconstructs
everyday electronic objects and reinvents them with a touch of poetry, humanity, or
humour. She aims to stimulate conversation and imagination regarding the role and the
impact of new technologies in our world.

By considering technology as a vehicle for social change, a major part of Andraos’s work
has been developed around making her work accessible and by increasing the
technological literacy of the general public. This approach is made possible by holding
creation and electronic production seminars as well as publishing research findings and
creation processes under an open licence.

Andraos holds a masters degree from the University of New York as well as a bachelor’s
degree from Concordia University. She was a resident researcher at the technological arts
centre Eyebeam (New York). The projects she created for the Montreal-based interactive
production studio Blusponge have received numerous prizes including the Best of Show
at the South by South West festival, ID and Communication Arts magazine awards, and a
CyberLion in Cannes. Her work has been presented at various European festivals, in
Japan, and in North America including a recent exhibition at PS1/MoMA in Queens
(New York). Andraos also teaches and has maintained a commercial practice. She
currently works and lives in Montreal.

This project has been supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the
Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec.