June 6, 2008 Oikos Project (a year long project done by Abigail Doan) Sigh!I have been sharing my studio again with two practicum students and Hilary Young. Tim and I have also been trying to figure out how to make the house more live workable.
Yesterday my son Brendan was working with a group of artists, architects and planners to consider the area around Great Northern Way as a workable art community. They considered the whole problem of people continually losing project space as a result of real estate speculation and have started to look at how to preserve "bad spaces".
My studio is a vulnerable "bad space". It is the upstairs of a drafty, old textile warehouse that has been divided into small studios or working rooms. The windows are from another era and are huge so the natural light is phenomenal all year round. It gets cold or too hot and isn't well insulated. It has electricity and heat and room to stretch out. The land , however, has become very valuable.
I need to have a place to work where I can use dyes and other materials that should not be used in a public environment and there is no place for that.
It makes me conscious of the materials I am using, which is a good thing.
Questions about art materials and impact on the environment is always an issue. So much of what we work with is rotten for our health and earth.
Extreme textiles are examples of both recycling and not so great. Many of the materials I use are recycled but are heat processed once again. I have to mask up and protect my skin. I use power and electricity and make fumes.
I also recycle paper and then burn it. Perhaps I should be duplicating a burnt look with the materials I use with pigments instead of fire? Perhaps I should be stitching and having less impact when creating dimension? More challenging and more fun!
Natural process in extreme embroidery is also amazing. Rot, staining, sun bleaching are all no impact process. What could be more extreme than using a rusting and natural mineral process with my work? What is more extreme than using the bleaching and burning power of the sun? With a magnifying glass? Or the huge windows?
I looked this morning again at the work of Manhattan - Tuscany artist Abigail Doan. She uses recycled and natural materials in her haunting constructions and is one of my favourite artists. Her ability to keep the important things about living on our earth in mind while working is laudable. Her constant reminders of life process makes these constructions so important to me.
Austin Thomas is another artist who considers the importance of working environments in our communities. I watch carefully for her ideas on work spaces and art making.
Blogs for Austin Thomas are http://drawingontheutopic.blogspot.com/
http://atfreespace.blogspot.com/
Abigail Doan's blog is http://abigaildoan.blogspot.com/
Yesterday my son Brendan was working with a group of artists, architects and planners to consider the area around Great Northern Way as a workable art community. They considered the whole problem of people continually losing project space as a result of real estate speculation and have started to look at how to preserve "bad spaces".
My studio is a vulnerable "bad space". It is the upstairs of a drafty, old textile warehouse that has been divided into small studios or working rooms. The windows are from another era and are huge so the natural light is phenomenal all year round. It gets cold or too hot and isn't well insulated. It has electricity and heat and room to stretch out. The land , however, has become very valuable.
I need to have a place to work where I can use dyes and other materials that should not be used in a public environment and there is no place for that.
It makes me conscious of the materials I am using, which is a good thing.
Questions about art materials and impact on the environment is always an issue. So much of what we work with is rotten for our health and earth.
Extreme textiles are examples of both recycling and not so great. Many of the materials I use are recycled but are heat processed once again. I have to mask up and protect my skin. I use power and electricity and make fumes.
I also recycle paper and then burn it. Perhaps I should be duplicating a burnt look with the materials I use with pigments instead of fire? Perhaps I should be stitching and having less impact when creating dimension? More challenging and more fun!
Natural process in extreme embroidery is also amazing. Rot, staining, sun bleaching are all no impact process. What could be more extreme than using a rusting and natural mineral process with my work? What is more extreme than using the bleaching and burning power of the sun? With a magnifying glass? Or the huge windows?
I looked this morning again at the work of Manhattan - Tuscany artist Abigail Doan. She uses recycled and natural materials in her haunting constructions and is one of my favourite artists. Her ability to keep the important things about living on our earth in mind while working is laudable. Her constant reminders of life process makes these constructions so important to me.
Austin Thomas is another artist who considers the importance of working environments in our communities. I watch carefully for her ideas on work spaces and art making.
Blogs for Austin Thomas are http://drawingontheutopic.blogspot.com/
http://atfreespace.blogspot.com/
Abigail Doan's blog is http://abigaildoan.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
I've been wondering about how much good we're doing by all the hot textiles techniques myself! It seems a shame to throw out the plastics and papers, and burns are the most fun, so what to do? Everytime i use my heat gun now, i'll plant something in the garden.
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