Friday Fibers Roundup: Art / Craft / Design

September 22, 2017

This week’s Friday Fibers Roundup explores projects, artists, and exhibitions that attempt to pick apart the categories of art, craft, and design that we so often put people’s work into.

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1) Have you ever wondered what happens to those massive painted theater backdrops when a show ends? Well, Jen Kahn (who has been a stage manager on and off Broadway for years) creates wonderful bags from the retired theater backdrops (via Upworthy).

2) “An Open Letter to the Craftivism Movement” by Julia Feliz talks about the problematic nature of “craftivism” and how it excludes and puts down large numbers of people (via Medium).

3)The Textile and Place Conference (hosted by Manchester School of Art and the Whitworth) takes textiles as a socially dynamic, communicative and active material offers a rich seam of enquiry into how textile participates and influences how we live. The conference takes place April 12, 2017 with a call for papers deadline of October 27th, 2017.

4) This review of the late Barbara Goldberg’s exhibition Fragments of Life features textile works in meditative, melancholy, and soulful blue (via South Coast Today).

5) This video shows how one man is trying to save the environment by turning plastic waste into clothes.

6) At the Apex of Artisanship, Living Luxury in a Modern World (albeit a sponsored post for the New York Times) brings up some interesting points on our appreciation for craft and how it fits into our everyday lives.

7) “Towards a Climate-Beneficial Wardrobe” examines the momentum in the movement to create a more ethical apparel industry and what you can do to participate (via Project Grounded).

8) Floating Cloud is the latest “weightless” creation from NYC-based artist and designer Richard Clarkson. Fascinated by the shape and form of clouds, Clarkson translates those compositions into audiovisual devices using rare earth magnets, electromagnets, and a location sensor that keep the cloud hovering at all times (via Colossal).

9) “In the New Gregg Museum of Art & Design, N.C. State Finally Gets a Nasher of Its Own” by Chris Vitiello spotlights the reopening of its new building with the launch of three new exhibitions featuring selections from the permanent collection (via Indy Week).

10) These large-scale paintings, titled Swedish Landscapes, by Rikki Niehaus feature gorgeous surface design and patterns placed within an IKEA-esque home furnishing store (via The Jealous Curator).