Fiber arts example

Fiber Arts

Ever wondered if you could make art from a pair of old socks or a tangle of yarn? From medieval tapestries to soft sculpture, fiber arts have weaved their way through art history, gaining a foothold in the visual arts in the mid-20th century. Fiber as an art media has limitless potential. In the case of Robert Irwin’s Chinati installation, untitled (dawn to dusk), fabric scrim is used as an element to capture, reflect, and distribute light. Follow along with these projects to unveil what you can do with fiber!

What is fiber art?

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In this week of Discover, Play, Make we are exploring fiber! What is fiber art and what are its materials? Scroll through the deck to learn more about this versatile material. An integral element of Robert Irwin's untitled (dawn to dusk) is the black and white scrim fabric that runs along the length of the installation's two side hallways and traverses the center pass. As the light changes both throughout the day and the year, the walls of scrim serve as a screen, capturing rectangles of light shining through the building's many windows. The rectangles’ intensity, proportion and scale are dependent upon the day's weather, light, and cloud coverage, producing an ever changing experience. Irwin discovered scrim, a synthetic fabric material, in Amsterdam in the 1970s. This simple material was generally used as curtain lining, but Irwin was attracted to its translucency and opacity and began incorporating it into his environmental installations. In developing this installation for Chinati, Irwin hoped to create a piece that emphasized the beauty that is already present in Marfa, explaining that "Marfa is magical." He further noted that his selection of materials, or lack thereof, worked to fulfill this intention, expressing "I want you to fly right through the window… so basically, that's the key to the whole thing of doing it, that is, that you're going to look out at this sky, and I'm going to articulate that sky hopefully in a subtle way, so as to draw you in to experience the sky in a number of different ways, but with as little means as possible because nothing I am doing is art. It's not art materials. It has very little to do with materiality.” #chinatiedu #chinatifoundation Robert Irwin, unpublished interview with Daphne Beal, December 23, 2014, the Chinati Foundation Archive, Marfa. As quoted in by Rob Weiner in Chinati: The vision of Donald Judd, Ed. 2, 2020.

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Fiber hunt

Frankenstein-ing

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Yesterday, we took found fiber materials and pulled them apart. Today, using those same scraps, put the pieces back together to make a new object! What can you do with the scraps you made? How might they come back together? Tying, knotting, braiding, weaving? What are the different ways you can manipulate this material? Have fun and PLAY! In 2003 the Oaxacan based artist Trini Ellitsgaard exhibited large weavings made from dyed wool and sisal installed in the museum’s Arena, and smaller works in silk and other materials, which were shown in a more intimate exhibition space at the museum. Ellitsgaard has been making hand-loomed textiles close to forty years. Her large carpets and tapestries combine rich colors with bold geometric patterns that result in striking and subtle compositions. Like yesterday, hold onto the object you made today for tomorrow's project. And make sure to share what you made with us at #chinatiedu #chinatifoundation Image: Four of the six large weavings exhibited in 2003 at the Chianti Foundation. ©Trini Ellitsgaard, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico 2020

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It's alive...!

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On our last day of fiber, look to the discoveries and experiments from Tuesday and Wednesday and expand upon these ideas to make your fiber piece! Which fiber material did you like best and what do you want to make from it? What did you learn about this material through the process of working with it this week? Keep scrolling through the deck for a bonus sketching project. Nicolas Shake, a 2019 Chinati artist in residence, is a multimedia artist working in painting, photography, and sculpture, with a focus on reframing the everyday human-made stuff that he encounters. The image presented is a large-scale work, and, within its construction, implements weaving-like techniques and a quilting philosophy. Share your final fiber pieces with us at #chinatiedu! We can't wait to see what you make! #chinatifoundation Image: UNTITLED (RUST AND CORRUGATION) 2019, polycaprolactone, petroleum, ash, dirt, dye, corrugated steel, rust, and hardware, 65 x 60 x 12 inches ©Nicolas Shake, Los Angeles, CA 2020

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