Stitch Your Brain publication, october 2023

‘Stitch Your Brain’ is a long-term study by artist and former medical doctor Monika Auch that explores the significance of creating with one’s hands in the digital age and the effects of slow, tactile creation on cognitive learning, health, and well-being. The book features over 100 stitched brains created by participants, serving as intimate self-portraits and a documentation of evolving perspectives on global issues over the past decade. The study’s data analysis and interpretation offer insights into the relationship between creativity, stress management, age, well-being, and skill learning, while experts in various fields provide commentary on its broader significance, highlighting the intersection of art, science, and neuroscience. Published by JapSamBooks, design by StudioJoostGrootens

Two projects research the intelligence of the hand - Stitch Your Brain started in 2013, results are published in october 2023.

Weeflab in Amsterdam was founded in 2016. The current study is about the colors of the North.

Weaving is the oldest binary technique.  Taken out of its traditional context it is a contemporary technique, a collage of materials put together by material knowledge of hands, imagination and digital technology. Weaving has an intellectual and a manual side. The hand is the interface and in this way the weaver is a protagonist of our time, especially in the experience of time itself.