Fibers. It can be described in several ways such as, 'thread like material either natural or artificial to be woven with'. Or maybe 'a very small substance that when many are brought together have strength.' It can be dyed, printed onto, knotted, woven, embroidered, etc. But it is not necessarily how it's used and manipulated, but just in the making of it is what is important. The hard labor by whom you may not know and the suffering they may have gone through. The history of fiber is a long and painful one and this perspective gives the material new meaning.
"We are working in an art that's called visual art. And by definition we are visually driven. In a way, we are bound by that, limited by this very fact. So it's easy for us to depict things of this physical world, of the way we live now, but it's very difficult to depict things that are not seen but have profound effect on us." Guo-Qiang states (Spirituality, chaos & inopportune interview). What Guo-Qiang, one of our artist this week, is trying to connect here is that, the materials we use, if we're conscious or not of it, will effect the rest of this world. Ann Hamilton, another textile artist, has similar perspectives as Guo-Qiang. While trying to create a piece having to do with the truth of fibers history in the U.S., she asks, "How do you give voice to something that's not necissarily visible?" Her piece soon turned into the voice of thousands, with a giant pile of blue jeans representing the slaves working in the fiber industry.
For Guo-Qiang, he recognizes the impact of the materials he uses in his work as well. Gunpowder drawings has been one of his trademarks and although it does create a mysterious and wonderful image on paper, the massive destruction and hate that it has been used for is evident. "Maybe my work sometimes is like the poppy flower. It's very beautiful, but yet because of the circumstances it also represents a poison to society as well." (Guo-Qiang, Spirituality, Chaos & Inopportune interview) This being said, I'd like to bring in another perspective. Life and death, distruction and creation, they are all one of the same. Without the other they would sees to exist. There is a little p(art) of each other in each other that is called the balance of the universe. So, although there may have been suffering, the material itself in what ever form it might be will always be in the ebb and flow of this balance and will always have a new life journey, just as the people who suffered. The moment is in constant change and Ann Hamilton concures, "There's a way that it (the installation) has an ongoing life as it meets the public. Every moment that it's up it's different" (Ghost: a border act interview).
Our guest speaker, Sara Lebowitz, She says that she is constantly thinking about how the art of fibers are made and what are the consequences of it. Why making is important to her is that she could not see herself without it. In a sense, 'making' is the making of oneself. She showed us several fiber artist, Ann Hamilton being one of them. One of the artists tat I was most drawn to was Magda Sayeg who, with her knitting graffitti, has made a huge spash into the art world. Taking knitting to the city streets you could say, covering anything from streetlight poles to city buses in knitting. Almost beautifying the streets. Its quite a powerful sight and knowing the labor that went into making the fiber, but also the final piece.
All of these perspectives and artists reminded me of a book I recently read called, 'Juniper' by Monica Furlong. Its about a little girl who is being trained to be a doran, which is a sorcerious. In her training she is taught to spin, dye and weave in order to make a doran cloak. "Every doran has one, and it needs to be carefully made because one day it will be your protection against the magic of sorcerers." (Juniper, pg. 86)
This cloak was very powerful and did protect her, but yet again it was all in the 'making of it' that truely mattered. The labor she put into making each color thread and weaving the hours away were what truely made that cloak powerful. 'A very small substance that when many are brought together have strength.'
May Fibers continue their journey and story as we all do.
Good job. Our speaker was Sara Rabinowitz, though : )
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