28 February 2025

Sonya Rapoport’s Shoe-Field and Other Fashion- and Textile-Driven Artworks at Radical Software, Kunsthalle Wien: A New Perspective on Women, Art, and Computing

Kunsthalle Wien: A Hidden Gem with Curated Excellence

Yesterday, Fashion.at visited the opening of Radical Software: Women, Art & Computing 1960–1991 at Kunsthalle Wien, an exhibition under the new direction of Michelle Cotton. Already at the end of December, Fashion.at took a closer look at Kunsthalle Wien's program (article), recognizing it as a cultural gem in Vienna. Unlike other exhibition spaces that are often crowded, Kunsthalle Wien stands out with a carefully curated selection of works. It is a space for those who seek to explore societal challenges through art. The new exhibition confirms its reputation, offering an in-depth exploration of the role of women in digital art and computing.

A Multidisciplinary Experience for Digital Art Enthusiasts

The foresight of Fashion.at's preview was accurate in predicting the exhibition's relevance. However, the reality exceeded expectations—especially for visitors interested in interdisciplinary fields like fashion, video, gaming, and music. The exhibition successfully connects early digital art with contemporary discussions about gender, technology, and production processes.

Rosemarie Trockel: Challenging the Perception of Textiles

One of the fashion- and textiles-related works in the exhibition is Ohne Titel (1985) by Rosemarie Trockel. The piece, which is a wool knit displaying the Woolmark sign in brown on black, challenges traditional perceptions of textiles as a 'women's material.' In the 1980s, Trockel used computer technology to create knitted paintings, experimenting with the intersection of craft and industrial production. Some of her works were handmade by people she recruited through classified ads, while others, like Untitled (1985), were produced using digital weaving technology. Her approach questioned the conventional separation between fine arts and applied arts, positioning wool in a neutral production process rather than associating it strictly with femininity. The repetition of the Woolmark logo in her work further highlights the tension between branding, craftsmanship, and mass production.

Sonya Rapoport's Shoe-Field: Data-Driven Consumer Behavior Analysis

Another highlight is the extensive installation Shoe-Field by Sonya Rapoport, one of the most immersive sections of the exhibition. Observing visitors, Fashion.at noted how they engaged deeply with the computer-generated texts on the walls and tiles on the floor—where even shoes were strategically placed. Originally conceived in the 1980s, Shoe-Field explored consumer behavior through computerized data analysis. Participants had their shoes photographed and answered questions about their relationship with them, such as why they purchased them and how much they liked them. Their responses were processed by a computer, which assigned each participant a 'shoe psyche' rating. Rapoport's work humorously anticipated today's data-driven marketing techniques, demonstrating how consumer behavior could be quantified and analyzed long before digital surveillance became mainstream. The installation merges technology, psychology, and commerce, reflecting on the increasing role of computation in shaping human habits.

Beryl Korot's Text and Commentary: Weaving and Programming as Parallel Processes

A final example that bridges the worlds of textiles, technology, and media mentioned here in this review is Text and Commentary (1976–77) by Beryl Korot. As a founding coeditor of the journal Radical Software, Korot was at the forefront of the early video art movement. Her installation integrates woven textiles, pictographic notations, and a five-channel video loop. By juxtaposing traditional weaving techniques with video technology, she highlights how both crafts and computing share a common foundation in encoding and transmitting information. Korot's work challenges the historical division between art and craft, positioning weaving as a precursor to modern computing. In doing so, she also questions the Western devaluation of textiles as mere 'women's work,' instead presenting the loom as one of the first information-processing devices.

Where Art, Technology, and Craft Intersect

The Kunsthalle Wien exhibition demonstrates how textiles, computers, and art intersect in unexpected ways. Much like programming, textile production has been integral to human industry and culture. The show makes a compelling case that traditional crafts and cutting-edge digital technologies are not opposites but rather parallel forms of knowledge and expression. Radical Software brings these ideas together in a thought-provoking manner, showing how the past informs the present and shaping new discussions on gender, creativity, and technological evolution. A must-visit for those eager to see where art and computing converge.


Image: Sonya Rapoport, Shoe-Field Map, 1982 (installation view), Courtesy Estate of Sonya Rapoport. Shoe-Field Map is part of the exhibition Radical Software: Women, Art & Computing 1960-1991, on view at Kunsthalle Wien, February 28 - May 25, 2025.