Global warming...

I have been busy - but today, the last day of Spring Break, I finally found some time to post these images from our recent 4- person Faculty Show, Oddly Wound Up at the Lawton gallery earlier this semester.  These works are a continuation of the bathing suits, of which I've posted a couple here previously.  This is a set of 5 knitted bikinis designed to follow specific locational knitting traditions; maps and ephemeral research materials are displayed on bulletin boards behind the suits, so people can see where the traditions came from, and get a sense of what the weather might be like in a place where knitting would become a really solid part of the cultural identity - and how global warming could threaten the production of material culture.

If you're from a really small remote place yourself, you'll probably enjoy the fact that Fair Isle is a tiny place in the middle of the North Sea, but their knitting traditions are still prominently represented in fashion today.

Cowichan bikini, "The Dude" based upon native interpretations of Fair Isle knitting brought over from Europe by the Sisters of St. Anne in 1860.

 Aran, Guernsey Gansey and Fair Isle 'kinis.

 Aran installed next to Cowichan, with maps mounted behind each.

 Guernsey Gansey Tankini with Fair Isle string and Nordkini in background.

Guernsey Gansey Tankini and Fair Isle share a map.

Nordkini.

Map and Nordkini.

Highlighting the Fair Isle String, inspired by Elizabeth Zimmermann, and the Guernsey Gansey Tankini, instructions and visuals from "Knitting the Old Way."

Aran and Cowichan. 

Map dots, ephemera highlighted. 

Just showing off the skirt on the Fair Isle string - Okay, I'm pretty proud of that one. And it was fun to make! 

The power of rejection...

It's been a while since I posted. I got a little distracted when school started, as usual. To update, my knitted swimsuits as comment on global warming didn't get into the show in Minneapolis. But I'm okay with it, because I knew even as I was sending it off that I needed to regroup and develop my presentation methods. These are really conceptual works of art, though they use history and craft as the media for the message. Yesterday in critique one of my intro students had a highly conceptual project and we spent a bit of time talking out how her presentation could inform the viewers. Even by the time she put her name on them, she'd begun to develop a label to provide a few clues for the viewer as to context, content, and material relationships. Pretty sophisticated, given that her theme was "Winter."

So, here are some images, and you can tell me what you think you're looking at. I am pretty sure I've missed the mark as far as communicating a darn thing with these, though, my craftsmanship is strong, I did my homework, and with some gentle nudges, I think the meaning will be clear. As I develop the project, hopefully you'll see how this unfolds. John thinks I need to render them as drawings, I'm considering maps, almanac information, and other didactic devices. We'll see. In the meantime, I have to finish that music stand they'll be auctioning off at the Green Bay Civic Symphony performance in November. An artist's work is never done...