In the Beginning

Cotton

In the first day of the class, we will begin with looking at FIBERS! Before we get to weaving, knitting, felting, sewing and embroidery... let's take a look at where these processes start!

In other words, to make cloth and to embed information into that cloth (through dyeing, printing, embroidery, other kinds of manipulation), we need raw materials. And all over the world, people utilize a broad array of materials for making cloth.

We will be focusing on PROTEIN fibers today (animals or things that grow out of animals, like sheep hair/wool and silk). Below are some images of protein fibers, as well as CELLULOSTIC fibers (things that grow out of the ground). Enjoy!

Angora Rabbit

Cashmere Goats

Merino Sheep

Shetland Sheep

Silk Moths and Cocoons

Silk Cocoon

Separating Silk Filament from the Cocoons

Alpaca

Flax (used to make linen)

Paper Mulberry (used to make bark or 'tapa' cloth)

Welcome to Introduction to Fiber!

A Bolivian man with his Alpaca (herd in background). Source: Wikipedia Commons

Hello Friends of Fiber,

In our first class, we start with the base line of fiber (pun intended!) by learning about the carding and preparing of wool fiber for spinning. The practice of spinning fibers into yarn or some type of filament for use in making textiles has an immense and broad history, with varying traditions having developed around the world over the millenia! We are just scratching the surface.

examples of various wools and their staple lengths. source: Wikipedia Commons

A great place for some technical information online can be found at The Joy of Handspinning.

Another good source of history and information is: Spinning on the Drop Spindle

Ancient Roman carved bone spindle whorls, 1-2 cent. A.D. source: http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/spindle-whorls.html

source: Wikipedia Commons

Woman in traditional Alsatian costume, 1870s. Photography, albumen print, source:http://www.bassenge.com/

If you are interested in acquiring your own drop spindle, you can order a spindle online, but you may wish to consider the alternative: making your own!

Snowflakes






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Winter Break










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New Year










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Time Passing

Knitting!

On our last night of our class, looked back at the semester and reviewed briefly the various techniques (and thus underlying concepts) we have learned about in Introduction to Fiber.  We started the semester learning to create 'a line' or single filament by spinning. We learned about creating cloth by matting or enmeshing fibers together in felting.  We learned about building cloth using an interlocking of two sets of yarns or threads in weaving - 'filling' the warp with weft yarns in tapestry. Tonight, we looked at yet another way of building cloth by looping - in this case knitting (though crochet and lace would be included.) We built cloth using two pairs of needles and a single line. Following are a few images that relate to the history of knitting, as well as contemporary artists utilizing this technique:

Freddie Robinson Hand of God

Knit Knit Home Page

Ann Wilson's Topographies

Dave Cole's Knitting With Loaded Shotgun (Safeties Off) 2008

Freddie Robinson's I'm So Angry banner

Annet Messager, Boarders

Egyptian Socks, circa 300-500 AD

Danish artist Marianne Jørgensen created this pink tank cozy after she requested that knitters from all over the world send her knitted pink squares. She then filmed the process of stitching these squares together over the top of a WW1 tank as an artistic criticism of the Danes involvement in Iraq.

Body Count Mittens. For more info, and a pattern, visit: http://craftsanity.com/pdf/mittenpattern.pdf

A result of Cat Mazza's project MicroRevolt. Artist and activist Cat Mazza is the founder of microRevolt. This collective of "craftivists" develops projects which combine knitting with machines, and digital social networks to investigate and initiate discussion about sweatshop labour.

Ellen Dissanayake

"Ellen Dissanayake is an independent scholar and lecturer who brings together theories about aesthetics, human development, psychology, and evolutionary biology in order to understand why humans have an "aesthetic imagination." Arguing that there are fundamental similarities between play, ritual, fantasy, and the more highly valued activity of "art-making," Dissanayake maintains that all of these behaviors of "making special" have an essential evolutionary value. In so doing, she argues that the humanities are not separate from, but are rather a part of, the human sciences. 

...

Her three books, What Is Art For (1988), Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes From and Why (1995), and Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began (2000), explore the consequences of the argument she makes in "The Core of Art," that the need to "make special" is part of humanity's genetic profile. ...Dissanayake asks her readers to rethink the place of art in their lives and to consider the possibility that the ongoing survival of the species may depend on the ability of its members to "make special."

-excerpted from The New Humanities Reader (www.newhum.com)

Xavier Hurtado video

Hi everyone, this video is a really beautiful description of an indigenous culture's philosophy, which related to the conversation from a few weeks ago about alternative systems of living. Enjoy!

http://gentiliapri.com/artwork/xavi_hurtado/nawapa/

THE GRAND FINALE

Option 1: RESPONSE/TRANSLATION

You just researched a textile tradition, aspect of textile history, or textile process. Now, create a piece that responds to or incorporates aspects of your research. You may choose to respond to formal elements, such as design motifs or incorporate the process or techniques in creating the textile. You may also choose to respond to the sociological or cultural aspects of the tradition by addressing  – for example, but not exclusive to - the rules that govern the making of the textiles, or the function they serve in a particular society.  The important aspect of this assignment is that you do not attempt to recreate or replicate the textile tradition, but rather reinterpret or respond to it as a contemporary artist.

Option 2: PERSONAL PROPOSAL

A process, material, conceopt or project in this class has sparked an idea. You desperately want the time to develop it and make it manifest. This is your opportunity.

Options 1 and 2: IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

How will the viewer interact with the piece you present? How will you install it and where? Will you perform it or otherwise engage us in your work? Comsider location/site, space/proximity, the hardware you use to install your work and how every choice you make regarding presentation affects how we view and understand your work.

Proposals due December 1

Critique/Final Project due December 8