Anne Wilson: LOCAL INDUSTRY


CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Saturday June 20 + Sunday 21
SPOKE, 119 N. Peoria, Unit 3D, Chicago, IL 60607
www.SpokeChicago.blogspot.com / spokechicago@gmail.com

Anne Wilson: LOCAL INDUSTRY, phase one-Chicago to Knoxville
Come join Anne and studio assistants to learn how to wind fiber bobbins and contribute to a large collaborative weaving project, opening at the Knoxville Museum of Art in January 2010. The names of all Chicago participants will be included in the project archive. This event is free and open to the public; all ages are welcome!

Bobbin winding teaching and production sessions will be scheduled each
day (6/20 and 6/21) in the following time periods (8 people per session):
10:00 - 12noon: Session 1
12:30 - 1:30: All invited -- both days Anne will present an overview of the Knoxville Museum project and invite interactive discussion
1:30 - 3:30: Session 2
3:30 - 5:30: Session 3
All materials are provided. Additional donations of fiber and sewing threads are welcome -- please bring to SPOKE anytime on Saturday 6/20 or Sunday 6/21.

Email SPOKE to sign up for a time period!
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BACKGROUND
LOCAL INDUSTRY, a participatory cloth-making project at the Knoxville Museum of Art within exhibition "Anne Wilson: Wind/Rewind/Weave," January - April 2010

One museum gallery at the KMA will be set up as a bobbin winding/weaving production site -- tables and winders positioned at regular intervals for groups (adults, college/university students, and school-age children) to wind hundreds of bobbins of colorful fibers. Using the bobbins wound during the run of the exhibition, experienced weavers from Knoxville and surrounding states are invited to take turns weaving a continuous bolt of weft-faced, selvedge-to-selvedge, striped cloth. Once one weaver has completed a passage of stripes, the next weaver responds to that passage, making a color transition that moves into new striped color passages of individual choice. Proceeding this way, although abstract, relates to the Surrealist exercise of "exquisite corpse" drawing.

"Local Industry" emphasizes all weavers as visual thinkers, working collectively to create a visually dynamic striped cloth. The completed cloth bolt will be given to the KMA collection with an archive of all who participated, from Chicago to Knoxville.

Participation in this collaborative group process invites discourse and debate about the contemporary production of textiles, and the crisis of production, worldwide. Rich histories of both handcrafted and industrially produced textiles in the southeast are a key reason to locate this project at the KMA. The fibers/threads we use are not bought new but collected from both factory mill ends and individual studio contributions; this is a re-use project. "Local Industry" also engages in the multi-faceted discussions about new participatory forms in contemporary art.
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Anne Wilson is an artist and teacher in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. To see some of her work, go to: http://annewilsonartist.com/

Spring Benefit & Soirée

Spoke Spring Benefit & Soirée

May 2-15, 2009

Please join Spoke May 8th from 6-9 p.m. for a night of music, food, drinks, and conversation. Art work & fresh goods by the founders of Spoke will be available for purchase to help raise money to support Spoke and enable the continuation of their mission.

Spoke is a small collaborative enterprise interested in maintaining a spirit of resourcefulness, spontaneity, experimentation, access rather than exclusion and interaction. Spoke is dedicated to providing opportunities for creative individuals and groups.

Featuring work by: Monica Herrera, Rachel Moore, Heather Mullins and Rana Siegel.

Open hours during benefit: 

Saturday, May 2, 11-5

Tuesday, May 5, 11-5

Friday, May 8, 11-9

Saturday, May 9, 11-5