Fiber Studio: Textile Practices and Projects in the Arts; VISAR-UH 2115 - YUAD Fall 2017; 4 credits Jill Magi, Assistant Arts Professor Jill.Magi@nyu.edu A6 Humanities Building, Office 109 02 628-5324; office hours TBD Course Description and Goals Fiber Studio students learn and explore a range of textile practices including embroidery, sewing, quilting, crochet and knitting, and weaving. Throughout the term, students will build skills in these basic textile practices. Incorporating textility into other mediums is encouraged, such as mixing stitching and painting, stitching and writing, and exploring the sculptural possibilities of textile. The following concepts characterize the fiber arts and will be discussed and explored in practice: repetition, labor, hand versus machine, portability, utility, the relationship between thread and line, the binary between art and craft, and the gender of textiles. We will also explore how textile objects and practices have informed and might extend, reshape, or even render mute certain art-world terms like minimalism, abstraction, and collage. Representative artists and traditions include Sheila Hicks, the silk sari weavers of Kanchipurum, the al sadu weavers of the Gulf region, the Siddis quilters of the Gujarat, the quilters of Gee s Bend Alabama, Ghada Amer, Faith Ringgold, The Institute for Figuring Crochet Coral Reef, Louise Bourgeois, Anni Albers, Emily Jacir, among others. Learning Outcomes To become familiar with a range of textile artists, traditions, and concepts in fiber arts. To learn textile skills and create new works of art. To practice being an active member of a community of artists providing rigorous support to one another. To learn to use writing as a tool for reflection, to write artist s statements appropriate for presenting work, and practice writing about art. To build and fine-tune a studio practice in the arts from keeping a sketchbook or ideas book, to developing tentative works, to finishing a project. Teaching Methodology The course will run as a hybrid studio, seminar, and laboratory for developing new textile works. Classes will feature mini-lectures on artists and craft traditions, demonstrations of techniques and materials, guided studio work sessions, group and individual critiques, as well as reflective in-class writing, sketching, and note-taking sessions. Critique sessions after completing draft textile projects will focus on what was learned, how the textile object may be further developed, and how it might mix with other art practices. Assignments & Grading Magi 1
The following is required of each student: an active sketch book for drawings, fabric samples, written notes, influences a textile project from each skill unit, totaling five a written statement about each draft textile work readings as assigned, presentations on readings as assigned active participation in group critiques a final completed textile project combining two skill units and accompanied by an artist s statement a short essay on a textile work of students choice at Abu Dhabi art participation in final exhibit a final artist s talk to accompany final project and exhibit Participation & Attendance: 25% Textile projects and reflective writing on each: 50% Short essay on a textile work from Abu Dhabi art: 5% Final project and artist s statement/artist s talk: 15% Participation in final exhibit: 5% Attendance Attending all class sessions and being prepared for participation are requirements of the course. If you miss a class, please bring a note from the wellness center excusing your absence. Your overall grade will fall a third of a letter grade with each unexcused absence. Missing six classes for any reason means you will need to withdraw from the course. Class will always start on time; two late arrivals equal one absence. Participation Students will be expected to contribute to in-class discussions; present on a particular question, artist, or technique as assigned; participate in guided writing and sketching sessions; offer supportive, informed, and critical comments during critique sessions; use studio sessions in their full duration to work on projects. Students should aim to contribute in all of these ways to earn the grade of A for participation and should consult with me if they are not certain to what degree they are participating. The course will be structured as a seminar/workshop and will be taught in such a manner as to encourage participation in various ways and respecting various learning styles. Textile Skill Unit Projects/Final Project Students will earn credit for their projects in the following categories: technical execution/adapting the technique to their skill set; completing the project, or bringing it to near completion; being able to articulate the work s relationship to contemporary fiber artists works discussed in class, as well as the work s relationship to craft traditions; thoughtful, reflective, and informed short artist s statement about each project that outlines the way a project might be expanded or altered. Each assignment and grading rubric will be described in more detail as it is assigned. Magi 2
For the final project, students will combine two skills of their choice and design a work that is carried to completion. This project will be accompanied by a longer artist s statement and instead of critique, each student will present a brief artist s talk to their peers. Details and grading rubric will be distributed when the details of the assignment are given. Statement on Plagiarism: Your writings for this course will emerge from in-class writings and sketchbook notes. Your ideas will come from the intersection of your thinking, experience, art practice, new knowledge, and prior knowledge. Therefore, essays about art and artist s statements that you write should be totally unique to you. Textile practices, on the other hand, are often shared and can end up looking remarkably similar across cultures and locales and histories. Therefore, our class will examine the concepts of authentic and authorship within the discourse of fiber arts and crafts. For more information, see this link: https://students.nyuad.nyu.edu/campuslife/student-policies/community-standards-policies/academic-integrity/ Required Texts The Textile Reader edited by Jessica Hemmings Looking at Textiles: A Guide to Technical Terms by Elena Phipps select PDFs posted on NYU Classes Course Schedule (subject to change) Monday, Sept 4 Introductions, terminology, sourcing materials, and a range of practices Overview: Richard Tuttle, al sadu in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, Cecilia Vicuña, the women who apply blueness indigo dyers of Indonesia, others Introduction to embroidery: the sampler Wednesday, Sept 6 Readings due: Introduction in Looking at Textiles by Elena Phipps; Folds, Fragments, Surfaces: Towards a Poetics of Cloth by Pennina Barnett in Hemmings Embroidery, continued Monday, Sept 11 Emily Jacir, embroidery traditions in the MENASA region Stitching and painting: Ghada Amer Reading due: excerpt from The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine by Rozsika Parker in Hemmings; Fiber Art and the Hierarchy of Art and Craft, 1960-80 by Elissa Auther in Hemmings Wednesday, Sept 13 Monday, Sept 18 Embroidery project work continues Project 1 due: embroidery Critique 1 Magi 3
Wednesday, Sept 20 Monday, Sept 25 Wednesday, Sept 27 Introduction to applique Mirror applique from north India, Central American mola, Louise Bourgeois, Rachid Koraïchi, Richard Tuttle Project 2 due: felt applique sequence Critique 2 Introduction to the quilt and pieced sewing, Siddis quilters of the Gujarat, Collaborative quilt project Monday, Oct 2 Wednesday, Oct 4 Monday, Oct 9 Wednesday, Oct 11 Monday, Oct 16 Wednesday, Oct 18 Quilt applique square due for collaborative quilt Quilting, continued Introduction to machine sewing and pieced fabric the quilters of Gee s Bend, Louise Bourgeois Project 3 due: pieced fabric work Critique 3 Introduction to weaving: experimental hand-weaving, Sheila Hicks Weaving, continued The Kanchipurum silk sari weavers, Anni Albers, al sadu weavers of Abu Dhabi, the tabletop loom, the barn loom Reading due: Constructing Textiles by Anni Albers in Hemmings Monday, Oct 30 Wednesday, Nov 1 Project 4 due: experimental hand-weaving Critique 4 Field trip to the Women s Craft Union, Abu Dhabi Collaborative weaving projects Monday, Nov 6 Weaving projects, continued Reading due: Zeroes + Ones: Digital Women and the New Technoculture by Sadie Plant in Hemmings Wednesday, Nov 8 String & sculpture: Crochet The Abu Dhabi Crochet Coral Reef, 2014: The Institute for Figuring Magi 4
Reading due: Knitting Is... by Sabrina Gschwandtner in Hemmings and Foreword: Sym-chthonic Tentacular Worldings: An SF Story for the Crochet Coral Reef by Donna Haraway (pdf on NYU Classes) Monday, Nov 13 String & sculpture: Knitting Abu Dhabi art report due Wednesday, Nov 15 Knitting, continued Installing fiber works: coral reef, snakes, other creatures Monday, Nov 20 Wednesday, Nov 22 Monday, Nov 27 Wednesday, Nov 29 Monday, Dec 4 Wednesday, Dec 6 Monday, Dec 11 Wednesday, Dec 13 Project 5 due: crochet, knitting Critique 5 Final project sketching, planning, brainstorming, sourcing materials, beginning work Final artist talks Final artist talks Magi 5