Origin Interactive: Crafting Space

LOOSE ENDS

There is always a point in the lead up to the opening of a project where it feels like my hands are full of loose threads and i am constantly trying to find the ends and clear my palms. I think it is because the bulk of the hard production work and decision making is done but there has still been a long list of small outstanding tasks to do, a lot of which Raphaella and i have got through in the last two days.

I also have to prepare the ribbons for the fifth (and final, lowest) tier of the roof arms. I realised they need to be neatly woven in to keep the beauty of the shape and also begin the colour transition from plain gold/white into what will be a varied palette chosen by the public from pale gold through to deep reds, sienna and dark blues.

Yet the actual fact of the passing of the work to the public is only just over three weeks away so the tone of energy has changed. There is a feeling of a period of intense transition and I am beginning (after a ten days of illness and exhaustion which knocked me sideways) to get very excited. I love the fact that we have created an object that will be a major player in a live experience that will impact a large number of people within a short period of time. The potential scale of participation in this project is a new step for me and i am curious as to how it will go and how the structure will look by the 19th of October.

There have been issues with Willow around crediting which we managed to resolve. The creation of the structure , which is the centerpiece of the project, really has been a collaboration. She has designed something based on an idea I had and done most of the hard work to bring it into existence. She has also been an important sounding board for other aspects of the space design and I understood it is important she is publicly credited for this where possible, as the project has some profile and this can make a difference to public access to her extraordinary work as a sculptor and designer.

Raphaella has been getting in emails from people wanting to volunteer who seem really interesting, (textile students, creative writers etc) and i realise that this project is so interdisciplinary that those working in the space will themselves have a diverse set of threads with which to connect with both each other and the public. I am keen for the team on site (myself, Raphaella, Lili and the volunteers) to be engaged in the making/growth of the piece as much as possible, eg writing/weaving experiences of Origin into the structure and consciously holding the space so it is as accessible as possible.

WEAVING WORDS

Weaving Words, it’s the essence of my work right now…Raphaella, Willow and I had a long session at Willow's studio pre-weaving the roof last friday. As with every aspect of this structure, we are -literally – crafting it into existence and it is long, labour intensive work that takes you out of your mind and into your hands and has its own time frame. Having said that, Willow has done most of the physical work and I am in awe of her capacity to work with such hard material (steel) in order to bond with my soft material (ribbon).

Needless to say we didn't finish but we got a long way. We have woven four our of five tiers of all eight roof arms. I am leaving the fifth for the team to work on during the first days of the show, to document what we find around us in Origin. Willow also pointed out that we need reference to tools, as well as materials and forms, so that will be woven in too. She says the Holy Trinity of the artwork is the artist, the tools and the viewer, with the artwork hanging somewhere between them…..

We also got to try a sample of the blue voile that Hattie sent over to see how the fabric wall will work in the background. It's beautiful, just need to see how the sewing and text printing tests come out now.

We realized while weaving it that the edges of the ribbon really need to be glued to the mesh edges in order to preserve the integrity and elegance of the roof’s shape. Willow has worked out a way of doing this that is as painless as possible but it will still be two days work for Raphaella and I to do over the next couple of weeks. But then it will be done!

The next job is to finalise the texts for the banners, design the postcard and focus on the furnishing of the space.

We have already received a few responses to our call on artsjobs for volunteers for the actual show, I am hoping it will attract a diverse range of people to get involved as it does cover so many bases – textile, writing, craft generally, architectural installation, socially engaged practice…

I realize that so much of my work lies in communication, invisible material really. Ramadan has begun and I have decided to make a short piece of work every morning before dawn to keep the ‘making’ energy going… I am not fasting as i am still feeding Moses, but it feels like this month, which finishes just before Origin opens, is a kind of preparation, an emptying out of unnecessary inner stuff.

IRIDESCENT, GLIMMERING

Willow sent me this photo of the finished roof section,it all works and is extremely stable as well as a beautiful shape. The ribbons are iridescent through the sun in the image , and I guess we will make use of the ambient lighting and our own spotlights to recreate this effect at Origin.

I have been writing out the roof ribbons as we are going to pre-weave them on Friday at Willow’s studio. Although they may not be readable from below (though am tempted to keep a telescope in the space) , I think what is written must be meaningful in the context of the work- start as you mean other to go on….So I decided to use the following word groups, written 8 times (one for each roof arm) ;

the senses (sight, hearing, taste etc)

the elements (fire, earth, air etc)what the elements do (eg, wood feeds fire, fire creates earth)

Craft materials (ceramics, book art, glass etc)

Craft forms (vessels, mats, mirrors, neckpieces etc)Textile terms (carding, kilim,selvedge etc)

The idea is that the text of the textile describes the very materials of the space and its surrounding, and – hopefully- attracts more of it to be written about.

I am still working on the specific instructional text for the public, I don't think it’s a question anymore, but a more general 'call to mind', like I did with the loom. Will write more on this later.

Cooling down in the english rain and wind, allows clearer thought and physical work to begin again. Although it was a very intense trip to the Alhambra (due to the heat and vast swathes of tourists, like me), I am glad I went as it confirmed my inutition re the colour palette of the structure and surround- desert colours- sand, gold,rust, red, black, enclosed in a deep cerulean blue. Also the use of geometry and the stilness and beauty of the spaces as you look up was inspiring.

The focus now is on the finishing of the roof. Willow is doing this as we had to focus on sewing it together and ribbon weaves when Raphaella and I went up last week, and it's slow, laborious work which takes longer than any of us realised. But, as the Sufis say 'Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet'.

I met with Hattie again and have chosen a bright cerulean blue voile for the surround, which will enclose the space like a transparent sea and allow the public to glimpse and be glimpsed at intervals as they pass the space. We are going to try out a couple of meters of this on a scaffold when we go up to the studio next week to pre-weave the roof. We hadn't planned to pre weave the roof but when we got it up and saw and felt the height, it became obvious that its not practical or possible to do this in public. So I am compliing texts, like poetic fragments, to write on the top section. I will use this to create an intention for how the work will live when it is finally put together for the 7th October.

I am in Spain, in sweltering heat and light with my family, trying to do a bit of work in between… Willow has sent me photos of the model she made based on sketches , to see how the frame will look around the structure. I will use this to try out ideas on the dressing of the space and the colour palette. She also sent me some of the thoughts she has written over the years, one which resonates in particular –
'SIMPLICITY does not mean without detail. Simplicity means even more attention is paid to how things feel, how they really are, so that a simple gesture can summon up a whole experience'.
I wanted to put here an updated description of the project that I wrote the other day:

'Crafting Space invites visitors to Origin to engage in the hands-on weaving of a 3.6 m high x 2.8 m wide circular structure.

Visitors may choose from questions posted within the space which will ask them to consider the meaning and value of making, buying and collecting in a new and intriguing context . They will then write their response on a length of translucent ribbon and weave this into the structure.

The intention is to transform visitors perception of what it means to be engaged in craft.

Based on the dimensions of the perfect circle, the project offers a point of reflection and connection, weaving together diverse members of the public and capturing a moment in time in a unique and delicate way.

The weaving of one of the 3,000 ribbons required to cover the structure will give individual visitors the opportunity to transform the bare bones of an existing piece of craft into a stunning object of collective creativity.

Crafting Space makes use of textiles , architecture and written text –'architexture’ – to offer a social, poetic experience to visitors that is intended to unify and inspire.'

i like this term 'architexture', it captures the hybrid medium I am working with more and more. It comes from an essay called 'Drawing Threads from Sight to Site' by Victoria Mitchell, published in 'Textile – the Journal of Cloth and Culture' edited by Janis Jefferies and Diana Wood Conroy (published by Berg). Janis is my mentor on my R+D this year and I am slowly discovering her writings with relish.