Discovering Weaving

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In process

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Close ups

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Her

I watched the movie Her and was really interested in the colors that were used in this film and how they worked in the scenes of the movie. This was one of my favorite scenes of the movie. The way the shadows reflect from the ceiling onto the floor of the office space along with the transparent colors of the glass are so beautiful. This movie projects into the future of what our society could be like, so the director also plays with how aesthetically our future will look. I do see our future of design and art heading into a direction that looks like this, mainly because in my opinion post modern century design always seems to stick around in some form. I get that feeling from the simplicity of the furniture and the clean crisp lines. Spaces like this free up a lot of space for vibrant and exciting art. I would love to live in a world where my furniture is simple and functional so that my walls and the rest of my space be filled with thought provoking art to fully complete the space. 

[harvestheart]

Faig Ahmed Creates Glitched-Out Contemporary Rugs from Traditional Azerbaijani Textiles

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This is so comically entertaining, also, how did they make that weft pattern?

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Coming Out (I’m Gay) Hand-dyed yarn 2016-2017

Finally finished the weaving I’ve been working on! So happy to see it done

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2001: Space Odyssey

I finally watched this movie not to long ago, and it was one of the most boring storyline, yet visually intriguing movie I have seen. The amount of symmetry in this movie was astounding to me. I could tell that Kubric put in so much thought into every second of this film. I understand that this movie is famous, but I’m a little blown its not as more recognizable. However, this makes the movie just a little more special to me.

I would say watching movies like this that have such visually appealing imagery inspire my work as an artist and designer. Very often within my process of creating, I forget to slow down and pay attention to every detail of my work. I’ll try to cut some corners and not think about some aspects with the logic that no one will notice in the end. This might be partially true, however that mindset does not encourage me to think through more visual problem solving scenarios.  I want to embrace the perfectionist Kubric qualities within myself more often in my work and see where it takes me.

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Biomimicry and Biophilia

These topics have led me to be very conflicted. I truly believe that we are meant to create and engineer our world inspired by and based off of how nature functions. This makes the most logically sense to me considering the fact that we all derive from the earth. Nature functions beautifully on its own, and the only time it has difficulties is when humans interfere with it and led it towards destruction. However, this TED talk made me some what annoyed. How on earth did it take this long for us to realize that we should be working WITH nature and not against it? This baffles me. I’m glad that designers, engineers, and other professionals are coming to this conclusion now so maybe it wont be too late to fix what we have destroyed, but it also feels like it might be too late. If anything, these topics need more recognition and awareness. Considering there are people who walk this earth currently that to their core believe that global warming isn’t real, need to watch this video and understand how nature is the world’s best designer. 

Why work against nature, when you could work with it.

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Visualizing Gender Norms in Design

This article got me to question my own portrayal of gender in my work. To be honest, I don’t think about gender in my art or designs that often. I just don’t really see that as a huge part of my work or process. However, this article made me realized I definitely subconsciously have a more feminine touch, which is expected. But one thing that got me thinking was how ridiculed the feminine Dolphia Drill was in this article in comparison to the Hurricane mixer. Personally, that mixer was the most basic product design I’ve ever seen. It definitely was masculine, but that didn't do really any justice to the design. It just made it look sleeker. The drill had so much more thought into how it worked and how the form assisted the function, yet it was still laughed at. It blows my mind how much femininity is looked down upon in the design community. That drill could very well be used by someone who is intimidated by a massive heavy drill, and that should be celebrated! Not everyone is or wants to be a handyman, and I don’t understand why that is so looked down upon in our society, especially in this day and age. 

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Sagmiester: Everyone always thinks they are right

This zine was one of the most clever things I’ve read in a while. To summarize the zine, Sagmiester essentially stated that regardless of how you feel about a situation, the other people in the party might not agree because of their own personally opinions and philosophy on life and design. This made me realize I need to really further analyze my artistic philosophy. One should always take criticism from others, but then compare that to one’s own philosophy and see how that lines up. Why integrate every comment and suggestion you hear if you don’t fully agree with it? 

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Conclusion

Reading this article really got me to think about the progression fibers have made over the years. The techniques used in fiber arts are so traditional and have been used for years, however using them in an artistic context has only been recognized for a short period of time. Even though during the Renaissance era, artists created beautifully intricate tapestries, the appreciation for fiber arts seemed to have died out for a little until returning around the 1970s. This reintroduction has made my appreciation for fiber arts somewhat difficult. I have always resonated with traditional processes such as knitting, quilting, and crocheting, but pushing myself to use that knowledge in an artistic matter does not seem to come as naturally to me as I would like it too. Considering fibers are categorized as a craft art, I can see why I have a difficult time with this association. It has been drilled into our heads for generations that fibers are used for necessities in life for clothing, but isn't art a necessity in life as well?

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Cabinet History

This article phrased the process of creating with string in a very interesting way; string figures. By referring to it as a figure, I feel like the process is somewhat humanized. There is a personality associated with each string figure. They can be created in collaboration with other artists, but for the most part are created independently. It can be difficult sometimes to break fibers away from their conventional use and see it as an art form. The article refers to the creation of string figures to be strictly recreational, but I still perceive the end result as art. The process may come across as a way to pass time, but that is just apart of the process. The end result became something, it’s own individualized string figure personality. 

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A Twist in the Tale

This article began with work by Glenn Anderson that reflected on the historical background of textiles, and the debate between art and craft. Everyone interacts with fibers daily, whether that be with clothing, the interior of one’s car, the curtains on their windows, or even viewing ads for clothing or fashion companies. Textiles are a huge part of our lives, and very often the people who create these textiles are completely forgotten about and treated pretty poorly. Anderson’s work reflects on that disrespect by creating the installation, “Topologies”, (2002-present). There is a quote in this article, “to find unexpected beauty in the commonplace.” I found this quote to sum up the meaning of this installation pretty well. The piece is composed of a variety of delicate black lace pieces that are not secured to the surface they rest on. With the movement of people who come in and view the work, the pieces shift their position over time and as a result, find their beauty in the commonplace. This work brings attention to the workers who do so much for our world with creation the fibers of our lives, and exhibits a delicate beauty to reflect on these people.

I was also drawn to Janine Antoni’s work, “Views of Slumber”, (1993). This piece was created by Antoni weaving the patterns that resulted from her REM sleep cycle. This weaving is interesting to me because she brings a new meaning to what weaving is. She used the natural pattern of her REM cycle to guide her weaving. In a sense, her sleep pattern is the weft of her piece. This piece also made me realize how much weaving has changed over the many decades that it has been around for. Weaving is such a timeless and important process. Almost every culture has their own form of weaving, whether that be with color scheme, patterning, purpose, or even inspiration behind them. In the 21st century, it seems that our society has turned a new leaf and has begun to make weaving in a much more personal and conceptual form of expression. 

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8 Creative Deconstructions

I was reading the 8 Creative Deconstructions article, and the first artist Cal Lane really stuck out to me. She worked as a welder, and she was one of the few women who worked in the department. As a joke, she would lay doilies on the equipment as a way to leave her mark as a woman in the space. However, this simple notion inspired her to then create lace out of metal. I was especially drawn to “5 Shovels”, (2005). These shovels were plasma cut, and she created this delicate floral pattern within the head of the shovels. Earlier in the article she mentioned a memory of her grandmother using doilies as stencils for putting powdered sugar on top of cakes, and these shovels reminded me of that anecdote. Except instead of sugar, it is dirt this time around.

I was also drawn to Elana Herzog’s work. Her work is almost completely opposite of Lane’s lace. Herzog’s lace has a very hauntingly delicate appearance. She uses remnants of fabric that she then staples to the wall. Because the textiles aren’t one set piece of fabric, the gaps between the strands makes the textiles appear to look like lace. I was drawn especially to “Untitled”,  (2005). She used a cream colored off white fabric that she then stapled into the wall. The way she stapled the textile to the wall was very particular. The placement of the staples are apart of the pattern in the “lace”. This installation really resonates with me the importance in purpose behind every aspect of displaying art. All of the mediums used with art from the process to the way the art is displayed is so important. Her decision to use staples to install the work gives the lace an industrial feel that juxtaposes the delicateness of the lace.

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Get Your Sleep 48"x21" woven tapestry

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Sites of Material Production

The article “Sites of Material Production,”started off with a topic that has been really important to me recently; where do your clothes come from? The way our society views our products currently is very distant and unaware. Not too many years ago, humans were very much in touch where their food, clothing, and other products came from and how they were produced because people had to survive off of the resources that were in their near proximity. This concept saddens me in a way that as a society, we have not been as connected with such an integral part of our lives. It is a lot cheaper to have people in other countries produce our clothing for low pay. This article also intrigued me with this one description, “the gallery will turned into an active zone of production versus a container of objects on display.” The artist that was written about, Julia Bryan-Wilson, wanted to bring to light the importance of recognizing how our clothing is produced, and further legitimizing a previously devalued form of domestic labor. This installation touches on the discrimination in the field with how women have been used and abused over the years in the textile industry.