Becky Stern
| Becky Stern | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Rebecca Stern January 29, 1985 Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | BFA Design and Technology, Parsons School of Design |
| Known for | DIY, crafts, new media |
| Notable work | Knitted Laptop Compubody Sock, CAPTCHA paintings, LilyPad Arduino Embroidery, ASCII heart necklace, TV-B Gone Jacket, Adafruit FLORA |
Becky Stern (born January 29, 1985) is an American artist based in New York City. Her work combines electronics, textile crafts, and fashion through the use of physical computing technologies like Arduino, 3D printing, and e-textiles.
Early life
Stern was born in Florida and grew up in Ashford, Connecticut.[1] She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design in 2007,[2] and studied interaction design and sculpture at graduate programs at Arizona State University.[3] She returned to New York in 2009 without completing her graduate degree.[1]
Career
From 2007 to 2012 Stern worked as a blogger and senior video producer for MAKE and CRAFT magazines, where she produced tutorials and videos about crafts and embedding electronics in clothes and home goods.[1]
From 2012 to Feb 15, 2016 Stern was Director of Wearable Electronics at NYC-based Adafruit Industries.[4]
Stern also holds an adjunct faculty position at School of Visual Arts in New York City,[5] is a fellow with the online Free Art and Technology Lab (F.A.T.), and has participated in events with the Brooklyn combine Madagascar Institute.
Notable Projects
- Compubody Knitted Interface (2008) - sweater that fits around the wearer's head & laptop, providing privacy and warmth.
- CAPTCHA Paintings (2008) - hand-painted versions of the CAPTCHA tests used by websites to prevent spam robots.
- LilyPad Embroidery (2008) - hand embroidery sampler featuring LilyPad Arduino microcontroller
- TV-B-Gone Jacket (2008/2011) - hoodie with embedded TV-B-Gone remote control and conductive thread zipper switch
- ASCII Heart Necklace (2009) - emoticon pendant from laser-cut silver
- Sparkle Skirt (2013) - motion-activated circuit with sewable components lights up when wearer dances
- Citi Bike Helmet (2013) - GPS and LED bicycle helmet navigates wearer to nearest bike share station
- Firewalker LED Sneakers (2013) - shoes with wrap-around LED strip and pressure sensors animate wearer’s steps
- RFID Manicure (2014) - NFC tag embedded in nail polish to interact with Android phones
Exhibitions
Stern has shown projects at the San Francisco Museum of Craft & Folk Art (2009), Bildmuseet in Umeå, Sweden, and Gizmodo Gallery.[2]
Her work has been featured on G4TV, CNN, Creators Project, Fast Company, Wired, BBC, Business Insider and Forbes.