Stitching for Material Sensitivity: From Traditional to Activist Embroidery
(2023)
author(s): Fabiola Hernandez Cervantes, Maria Huhmarniemi
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
Cochineal is an insect that has been used for textile dyeing since pre-Hispanic cultures in Mexico. This exposition discusses the use of the cochineal insect as a natural dye for wool and the bridge between ancient indigenous knowledge and contemporary artistic research. A transatlantic connection is created between the Mexican plateau and the Arctic region, merging traditional knowledge, contemporary art, crafting and conceptualisation through an artistic embroidery initiative involving researchers, craft artists and human rights activists living in the province of Lapland in Finland. Documentary photos of artistic practice and research diaries enhance discussion on sustainability, tradition, craftivism, decolonisation and indigenous knowledge. This exposition embraces collaborative craftivism through a group initiative called Embroidered Stances, discussions about material interconnectedness in a web-of-life conceptual structure that includes sheep wool, cactus, cochineal and ancestral knowledge. The endorsement of material sensitivity is narrated into embroideries by the first author Cervantes and discussed, acknowledging complexities within issues of cultural and ecological sustainability.
In Search of Wool(s)
(2023)
author(s): Bilge Merve Aktaş
published in: Research Catalogue
This project explores the potential futures of wool. Despite being a significant craft material, wool has become a byproduct of sheep and lamb industry in most areas. In many places, fleece and wool use is in decline. Consistent with the global trend, wool production has also declined in the US since the 1940s . When wool is used in textile industries, merino wool from Australia and New Zealand often dominates the scene, thus contributing to the decline in local wool. As a result, large amounts of wool, a material with great qualities, becomes unwanted product and is discarded as a waste.
A project about and with wool can bring new possibilities for the future of wool for producers and craftspeople. In this project, I will research wool's current situation around Asheville by visiting some farms and discussing with craftspeople. This research will draw on the current situation and start contextualizing how wool might be studied.
Using wool’s agency to design and make felted artefacts
(2019)
author(s): Bilge Merve Aktaş
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
This exposition presents an explorative project that examines employing material as a reference point for designing and making an artefact. The material’s effects on designing and making have been elaborated upon from many angles. This exposition also examines how material affects designing and making processes from the perspective of material agency. This study argues that by observing a material’s behaviour from the perspective of agency, one can genuinely understand what the material does, and accordingly can find ways to collaborate with it in the process of designing and making artefacts. The discussion is articulated through a designer’s project in felting by employing a practice-led research approach that examined the decision-making processes through written reflections and visual documentation. This examination suggests that by including material as a reference point, design and making can reflect the ecology of the material in a way that combines human power with the activeness of the material.
Concepts of Embodiment in Interdisciplinary Work Within a Musical Context
(2019)
author(s): Sarah Albu
published in: KC Research Portal
Integrated musical experiences have long existed, previous to and outside of the traditional concert music setting. Interdisciplinary approaches to performance creation are becoming more accepted and more common in academic music contexts. This research asks the question "How does the concept of embodiment serve the creation of interdisciplinary work within a musical context?", examined through the lens of definitions of embodiment, spinning, technology, community, and inter/multidisciplinary vs. intermediality and expanded through case studies of two of the author's recent performance works.