Needles & Proverbs
Artists
10
works
24
Needles can also serve the function of languages. In traditional Chinese, “ 针 ”, the Chinese character of “needle”, has the same pronunciation as “ 箴 ”, which means “admonition”. Therefore, in Chinese, the word “needle” shares the meaning of admonition without implication of gender. The long bamboo needle for weaving and knitting, and the crewel needle for embroidery, all share the metaphor of admonition. Both in Chinese and western cultures, the fine needle is connected to languages. It represents the sensation of human body, the activation and revival of humanity, the cultivation and self-reflection of the soul, and a prophesy of the future. The reason is that needle is regarded as the origin of writing languages for its similar appearance of a pen. Therefore, the origin of the admonition metaphor of needle is embedded in its fundamental approaches--weaving, embroidering, and a series of art works, which are all relevant to needles, in this way traditional weaving and knitting echo to the reality and are revitalized.
Weaving and Needle
Weaving ‘Weaving & We’ is the theme of 2016 Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art. For fiber art, it honors the craft of ‘weaving’; to the triennial exhibition of contemporary art, it strives to touch the chord of heart of the ‘we’.The theme inspires us to approach the issue of existence and perception through ‘weaving’ --- the most fundamental and common craft in fiber art. The ‘we’ here is an active subject rather than a passive medium. The architect Gottfried Semper once remarked, ‘in the beginning there was textile art.’ As the most basic technique for textile art, the craft of weaving has been moving forward along with the advancement of mankind. To weave, people had to work. The manual labor of weaving gave human beings the sense of existence. The development of weaving has given a testimony to the progress of mankind.
More
Body & Identity
Artists
9
works
14
The concepts of weaving and human body are intertwined; textiles of different materials, including wool, hemp, silk, and cotton, give us unique and special body sensations. Weaving is not only a body protection but also serves as a symbol of identity. Our physical body not only indicates temperature, feelings and identity, but also stands for memory and history. Skin is a protection to our body and clothes are regarded as the “second skin”. Today, in a multicultural era, textiles have another function-a symbol of identity of different races and regions, showing the distinction of different times and groups; textiles are one of the most familiar things in our daily life, however, their identity is changing and disappearing gradually. This is how textiles echo to the history and bodily memories.
Second Skins: Cloth, Difference and the Art of Transformation
Introduction “Second skins: cloth, difference and the art of transformation” takes as its point of departure the photographic portraits of Maud Sulter and Chan-Hyo Bae to explore (i) the place of cloth in the refashioning of cultural, racial and gendered identities, and (ii) the use of cloth as a vehicle with which to challenge hierarchical structures of power that render certain peoples, their histories and their cultural expressions invisible.
More
Weaving & Form
Artists
15
works
30
Weaving could be seen as two-dimensional fabric making and as an approach of three-dimensional shaping. As a different type of shaping a figure, weaving displays the techniques and the experimental characteristics of modern fiber art. It has inspired a series of conceptual transformations and becomes related with social reality. The meaning of weaving not only represents the behavior of weaving or creating a certain shape, but also contains the concepts of “constructing” “building” and “perspective” and involves many social factors like war, stock market, economy, biology, science and technology, ecology, commodity and policy. Shaping is how weaving echoes to forms and concepts.
Constructing Textiles
Retrospection, though suspected of being the preoccupation of conservators, can also serve as an active agent. As an antidote for an elated sense of progress that seizes us from time to time, it shows our achievements in proper proportion and makes it possible to observe where we have advanced, where not, and where, perhaps, we have even retrogressed. It thus can suggest new areas for experimentation.
More
Scene & Phenomeno
Artists
18
works
63
The manufacturing process of weaving is a vivid and important social scene. Weaving originated from households, developed in workshops, transformed in local places, and was activated in factories. Weaving raises many questions for people to think about and drives us to find answers in our social reality. There is plenty of information of the local and people in the scene: weaving is not only presented on the individual workers, but also based on industry, enterprises and groups. It develops in the specific daily scenes and reflects numerous social realities. In order to react to the social problems, weaving becomes an intermediary of thinking, and continuously raises questions. This is how weaving responses to social scenes.
Non-Engraving Products
In 1925, Liu Zongyue coined the word “Minyi”, which is an abbreviation of “Minzhong gongyi”, and translated this word as “folk art”. Then, he found that the word “art” was so professional that he invented a new word “folk-craft”. From this process, we may understand that “craft” is totally different from “art”. It should be argued that the Folk-Craft Movement led by Mr. Liu was started on the basis of the discovery of the value of “non-engraving products” instead of “engraving products”. The movement tried to upset the common values that “talents” were better than “craftsmen”.
More
Liang Shaoji's Solo Exhibition: Cloud above Cloud( Parallel Exhibitions)
Artists
1
works
6
Liang Shaoji's Solo Exhibition: Cloud above Cloud
On My Work 1990-2016 (selected)
The weft and warp constitute the basic framework of textile weaving, but they also constitute a mental framework that I felt was too limited for the making of art. I had to overcome the attraction of rich surfaces and decorative textures in order to find that deeper desire which was at the origin of my research for a new kind of fabric and form. I wanted to discover some kind of critical point where science and nature, biology and bio-ecology, weaving and sculpture, installation and action might meet. I started breeding silkworms in 1989. The experience gained during the past twenty-six years contributes to my Nature Series.
More
