Red is the colour of..., October 2019 - Feb 2020
I started knitting Red is the colour of... in June 2019 for the B-Wing exhibition at Shepton Mallet Prison. It was a response to what I imagined as a the traces of emotion left behind in the prison by the inmates over the years. I knitted many similar long trailing abstract pieces, which I then installed around one floor of the prison, connecting them to one another with red wool. There were also several other larger red knitted soft sculptures which became part of the installation. For images of the full installation have a look at my page on the B-Wing website
Here is a walk-through video of Red is the colour of... installed at the B-Wing exhibition at Shepton Mallet Prison:
After B-Wing, I decided to carry on knitting the long red sculptures. They were portable, and good to knit whenever and wherever I was. I imagined installing multiples vertically, from the ceiling as a walk-through installation.
I've subsequently researched the ways that an art work that is site responsive can have different meanings when installed in other places. I've reflected on site responsiveness vs site specificity st B-Wing here. I've also done some further research into site responsiveness here. There's more specifically about my red knittings here and about the way I knit here. My recent red knitted pieces are all unfinished, and left to unravel so in my recent research, I've also been looking at Surette and Peterson's 'sloppy craft' and Bataille's 'form and formlessness' in relation to my knitting.
I've also revisited methods of installation. Hanging a sculpture emphasises it’s ‘fragility and vulnerability’ (Larratt-Smith 2011). Louise Bourgeois asserts that the hanging thing ‘…is very helpless’ (in Nixon 2005:170) and ‘Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence and doubt’ (in Larratt- Smith 2011). It is clearly significant to her. I think the hanging motif distinguishes ‘very different identities for (her) sculpture…suggesting a kind of displacement’ (Barlow 1996: 9) which also adds feelings of abjection.
Knitting is wonderfully site responsive. Miwon Kwon discusses the ‘impermanence and transience’ of art installed in response to ‘one site after another’. Richard Tuttle ‘enters a dialogue with the space’, sometimes reinstalling his work to explore how it can respond differently to the same setting. Other artists creating inspiring site-responsive installations using textiles include Chiharu Shiota and Christo I definitely find that installing my knitting in unexpected places changes the way my work is perceived and I’m very keen to research this area further.
I've subsequently researched the ways that an art work that is site responsive can have different meanings when installed in other places. I've reflected on site responsiveness vs site specificity st B-Wing here. I've also done some further research into site responsiveness here. There's more specifically about my red knittings here and about the way I knit here. My recent red knitted pieces are all unfinished, and left to unravel so in my recent research, I've also been looking at Surette and Peterson's 'sloppy craft' and Bataille's 'form and formlessness' in relation to my knitting.
I've also revisited methods of installation. Hanging a sculpture emphasises it’s ‘fragility and vulnerability’ (Larratt-Smith 2011). Louise Bourgeois asserts that the hanging thing ‘…is very helpless’ (in Nixon 2005:170) and ‘Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence and doubt’ (in Larratt- Smith 2011). It is clearly significant to her. I think the hanging motif distinguishes ‘very different identities for (her) sculpture…suggesting a kind of displacement’ (Barlow 1996: 9) which also adds feelings of abjection.
Knitting is wonderfully site responsive. Miwon Kwon discusses the ‘impermanence and transience’ of art installed in response to ‘one site after another’. Richard Tuttle ‘enters a dialogue with the space’, sometimes reinstalling his work to explore how it can respond differently to the same setting. Other artists creating inspiring site-responsive installations using textiles include Chiharu Shiota and Christo I definitely find that installing my knitting in unexpected places changes the way my work is perceived and I’m very keen to research this area further.
Red is the colour of... , work in progress and trial installations, October 2019 to Feb 2020
In February 2020, I had the opportunity to install Red is the colour... at the 'inaugural' exhibition at the Sion Hill campus at Bath Spa University alongside the other part timers, 1st and 2nd years. It was a good opportunity to trial my ideas for a vertical hang in a gallery setting. It was highly effective. I would have liked it to be a larger installation, so I'll carry on knitting these long red sculptures at some point.
