Surface Design Journal Fall 2003

Editorial

I happened to visit a school for young children as this issue was in progress. While I was there, a sign on the door of a classroom caught my attention. It read:

The teacher said to the children, “Come to the edge.”
They replied, “We are afraid.”
Again she told them, “Come to the edge.”
“It’s too high,” they said.
The teacher demanded, “Come to the edge.”
They came, and the teacher pushed them, and they flew.

    Somehow that recalled my experience of kneeling fearfully at the edge of a pool while learning to dive. Finally, the teacher’s nudge came between my fear and the subsequent splash. But then there was the diving board to conquer—one edge inevitably leads to another.

    Only a few years ago, the use of computer-aided design was “awesome” even though critics complained that it lacked the humanizing touch of the artist. Now, an artist can create an original design and scan it directly into a computer. Further, tools for manipulating on-screen images let the artist have the last word. What had once been seen as a phenomenal breakthrough now is assumed as anyone’s option. Precarious edges soon become comfortable plateaus.

     Notwithstanding the ephemeral aspects of edginess, for this issue we tried to identify artists who are venturing into previously unexplored reaches of our field. When Warren Seelig approached us with the notion of reflecting on a groundbreaking conference during which handwork met high tech at Haystack School, that seemed a good place to start.

     One thing that can happen with fiber at the edge is that it meets up with with other mediums. In Joan Truckenbrod’s work, for example, fiber enters into a symbiotic realtionship with video projections and sounds (see page 22). And as three collaborators found, a work needn’t stop with a digital image on fabric, but can undergo further transformation through different processes (see page 12).

     While it was obvious to look for the edge in the realm of digital technology, we wanted to present a broad enough view to acknowledge other areas of research. In fact, old techniques can be radically updated in the effort to seek new horizons. As an example, Mirja Puppel has reinvented flower pressing to defy the natural breakdown of organisms over time. And, working with fishskin and gut in ways that can jar our visual and tactile sensibilities, the artists discussed in Hildreth York’s article refer to ancient practices with animal products as well as present attitudes toward recycling (see page 32).

     Hopefully, the articles that follow suggest that the edge is not to be feared, but relished with confidence that one edge is a launching pad for the next.

  — Patricia Malarcher