jackiezerull-blog

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21 Years

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“Toward Textile” Response

I find that the discussion of material to be intriguing. Materials can carry with it heavy significance, however this significance may be lost if it is not communicated properly to the audience.

“Rubbing one’s hand over the upholstery of a favorite armchair, noticing a sweater’s softness and warmth when folding it, recognizing the smell of a loved one when hanging up his or her coat – these are the moments of everyday life that are frequently experienced but rarely remarked upon.” 

It’s quite a romantic notion of reminiscing in the now but I enjoy this passage. It makes me think of the ivory soap my grandma has, the cleaning detergent my mom uses as well as the sound of the wind chimes outside the house. It’s funny because it ironically also makes me think of the everyday displeasures. One of my least favorite is going into the bathroom after someone’s taken a shower, brushed their teeth and pooped in the toilet.  Disgusting, I know, but it’ one that sticks in my mind and is very distinct.

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“Soft Power” Response

This is a very entertaining argument. Historically, fiber arts have been viewed as predominantly pertaining to women. It’s soft form and inability to maintain over time suggests weakness. Whereas the harder mediums such as metal tend to associate with male figures. Holding up over time, they seem to lend a stronger more “masculine” view. Using fibers to question masculinity,  is very relevant. It’s funny to read the reactions of people. It seems that many insult the work discussed, in a defensive attempt to salvage masculinity.  If this does not highlight the irony in itself...

If anything creating soft forms of genitalia is a more accurate representation of all human bodies. They are not solid objects to the core but rather various organs made up of different materials. Material being the significant word here.

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“The Drama of Leisure or the Impossibility of Wasting One’s Time” Response

What? …. I will give this article the benefit of the doubt that the author means to advise the audience to make better use of their time. Yes, “free time” is not free because in order to have free time you must spend time so it is impossible to waste time... I get it.

However, I find his assertion that all people are equal in their leisure time and all people’s leisure time is equal to be disturbing. His voice is one that speaks from the perspective of privilege.  You can not make such assertions if you do not experience what others do in their own “leisure” time, if they are even as fortunate to share in this experience. On the suggestion that all are equal, would suggest an ambiguity. Example; If you attend an event not knowing anyone outside of the event then perhaps in a perfect world you may all be equal however, if you attend an event knowing your boss is there, then certainly your leisure time will not be equal.

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Weave #3

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“Sculpture in the Expanded Field” Response

I find this article to be very frustrating, it’s a bit pompous, using elitist vocabulary to intentionally exclude a large portion of the population from understanding what he says.

I think this is often a mistake within academia, nevertheless this article reminds me of many discussions about theories of art that I have had recently. Where some theorist such as Collingwood, propose that art and craft are different, not necessarily separate, but that art should not be reduced to craft. This is interesting when discussing Stratton’s writing, who tries to define sculpture using monuments which based on Collingwood’s definition would exclude much sculpture from art.  Strange to make an assumption that all sculpture is art.

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“The Story of a Tennessee Weaver” Response

This is an interesting vignette of how weaving allowed many women to support their families and to have some financial independence. It’s a bit of a tedious article which may reflect on the process of weaving itself—it reminds me of how my great grandmother tells stories. With names and places, but very few details about the people.

The section of the article that discusses women getting to keep their own money and decide how it was spent is interesting, since women of the period were seldom given the opportunity to keep and spend their own money. It was also inspiring that they looked out for each other by creating a communal emergency fund to borrow from.

This articles make me think of gender roles and how they seem to be more balanced in times of great hardship. Though the women were producing the soft craft of weaving that has historically been viewed as a feminine craft, they were able to provide for their families in ways that men are typically expected to.

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“4 Tapestries in Space” Response

In the article, “Tapestries in Space: An Alternative History of Site-Specificity,” by T’ai Smith, the author begins by discussing the original purpose of tapestries and carpets. Once, these creations were used not only as decoration but served specific functions as well. These functions were often insulation of walls or separation of spaces. When the author discusses tapestries functioning as a way of muffling voices and maintaining secrets, it completely changes how I think of a tapestry. It no longer is a passive object but rather one of deep complexity. Its story not only comes from its creation but the houses in which it is placed and the stories collected in its material.

This idea of collecting sound is similar to a project I worked on last year. The challenge was to come up with something you find grotesque and make it into a wearable object. I decided to work with muffled noises and the idea of listening in on something unintended for outsiders. I wanted my audience to think about what it means to listen in and how it can come into play in different circumstances. I created a mass of thrifted pillows that muffle the sound from the inside. I decided to use old instead of new pillows for the same reason as the article discusses, they already have collected stories, making them into something new furthers that story.

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Weave #2

further exploration

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“A Brief History of String” Response

In Sabrina Gschwandtner’s article, “A Brief History of String,” she discusses three ways in which string has been used throughout history in an attempt to restore suppressed information. In her brief overview, she discusses the use of string for eruvs, a symbolic enclosure of space that is practiced by people of Jewish faith during the Sabbath.  This use of string is to combine public with private properties to allow people to carry objects that can be opened or closed such as umbrellas or strollers on the Sabbath. This is quite interesting to me because it makes me realize how invisible things become when you are not attuned to your surroundings. Recently, I had a conversation and someone used a word I was unfamiliar with. When I asked what the word meant, I wondered if I had heard it before but was blind because of its  insignificance to me. After I became aware of the word I noticed multiple people in different friend groups using the term. In the case of string, it is interesting that a physical thing, such as string can be so visible to some yet invisible to others. I think this is a very exciting yet frightening discovery. It makes me question how much goes unnoticed on any given day.

Another alarming fact Gschwandtner brings up is the amount of information lost from the destruction Quipus upon Spanish conquest. Quipus are made of knots in various type, colors, lengths, and clusters created to convey a thought or information. It is truly amazing to imagine the complexity a system such as this must have been yet using such simple techniques. In order to ensure that the Spanish form of law and writing was established, Spanish conquistadors destroyed the majority of Quipus. This great tragedy is frustrating to accept as a part of human history and such events have happened time and again. Why destroy something so precious to a culture of people? This gratuitous conduct, is among the worst forms of human cruelty.

Furthermore, in Gschwandtner’s final section of discussion about string figures, she interviews Mark Sherman who compares the gratification you get from flying a kite to making a string figure. In his description I imagine the figures he produces as creatures “tugging,” and pulling until there is resolution. The layers of storytelling that can come from something as seemingly simple as string is truly fascinating.

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“8 Creative Deconstructions” Response

In the article, “Creative Deconstructions,” the author follows four artists, Cal Lane, Piper Shepherd, Elana Herzog and Eugène Van Veldhoven. All of these artist share a common interest of lace, either recreating lace patterns in other mediums or incorporating and experimenting with lace.  I particularly enjoy Cal Lane’s discussion about lace and life’s inherent contradictions, stating, “lace can conceal and reveal, convey comfort and lust, and is often used in rituals as divergent as weddings and funerals.” With Lane’s work it is interesting that she transforms the lace patterns into metal to highlight the dichotomy between the two mediums also bringing to question the purpose of the material. This speaks not only to her experiences as a woman in the industry, but to many woman in industries predominantly employed by men.

On the other hand, Piper Shepherd does the complete opposite of Cal Lane and uses large fabric lace etchings to create architectural pieces. Though Shepherd’s pieces are the reverse of Lane’s work, they ultimately achieve the same goal. Reversing the roles of the material and bringing into question the strength and fragility of the material and the traditional use of lace, Pushing the boundary of what the material can do and mean.

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LARS STENSTAD, Nordisk Visa (detail), tapestry, Sweden, 1974. Tapestry-woven wool and linen. Photograph by Scandinavian Collectors 2017.

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Weave #1

Experimentations:

tabby

twill

gauge variation

color variation

experimental materials