sewing my fingers off

Time Passes... will be installed in the BUFU Gallery from Sunday, December 5 through Saturday the 11th. I will inhabit the space for 30-60 minutes each day. During this time I will sit in a chair in the back of the room with a stack of blank quilt blocks, a pen, and a bottle of ink. I will write whatever comes to mind while I'm in the space, but generally, the majority of the text will be (or will be based on) my own personal memories. I will pile the full blocks on the floor for viewers to leaf through and read at will.

This is the approximate schedule for the performances. I will document the installation's progression at the end of each day.
Monday, December 6: 5-6 pm
Tuesday, December 7: 12-12:30 pm
Wednesday, December 8: 12-1 pm
Thursday, December 9: 5-6 pm
Friday December 10: 12-1 pm

Through this installation, I am exploring the quilt as both a commemorative and a memory-inducing object. The performative element is, in part, a metaphor for the time-consuming physical process of piecing and quilting. Because I am in the space hand-writing my own personal memories, the performace also speaks to the idea of the quilt as a diaristic object. In my absence, the text-covered blocks act as visual traces, as records of my having inhabited the space; they trigger the memory of my actions.

progress, part two

First, a few thoughts about the installation.

The muslin will be pieced in a clamshell pattern (like this one). The pattern will be at a larger-than-life scale (that is, double or triple the size it would be for a functional quilt). I chose the clamshell pattern because it is difficult and rarely found in pieced quilts. It also has an interesting reference to clouds and/or sky.

Instead of quilting the text as I had originally planned, I am thinking of handwriting it with indelible ink on a small section of the muslin (probably on a piece near the floor). This decision came about from an experiment I did last night where I hand wrote a part of the text on muslin and quilted a few words. It took a long time to quilt and was very tedious, and didn't even look that good when I had finished.

I also did another lighting experiment this week:

I used two layers of the same muslin I plan to use in the final installation. They did not have batting between them this time (although I tried it at one point and it had almost no effect on the quality or brightness of light that came through the muslin). I tried two things:

~Hanging a strand of Christmas lights about six inches behind the muslin (about six inches away from it), and

~Hanging a single bare bulb in the back of the room (around three to four feet away from the muslin).

I liked how the Christmas lights looked - there were definite points of light, but it was easier to get the kind of gradation from bright to dark by manipulating the fabric's distance from the source. For the installation I'm planning to use a net of Christmas lights, hung about six inches above the muslin.

Sources
Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker  
Gwen Marston
University of Michigan Press: 2004
p. 62-63

progress

I've made good progress on the BUFU application, including getting specific dates nailed down. I will use the formal proposal (from the previous post) and one or two sketches for the application.

Yesterday I did my first lighting/materials experiment: I hung a sheet of fabric about two feet away from a bare light bulb in an otherwise dark room. I did this about 10 times with various materials (for example cheesecloth, silk, several thicknesses of muslin, cotton batting, and felt). The results were surprising - the most successful combination was two layers of cotton muslin with quilt batting sandwiched between them, exactly what I would use for a functional quilt. These materials cast the kind of warm glow I'm looking for.

I haven't consulted many outside sources this week - I've spent most of my time thinking, writing and drawing. But I did come across an interesting line in a Wikipedia article about memory:
One of the primary functions of sleep is improving consolidation of information, as several studies have shown that memory depends on getting enough sleep between training and test. 

hiding under the covers, a proposal

Here is the formal proposal for the installation. It is currently untitled.

Physical Description

I will construct a large quilt from translucent white muslin and cotton batting and suspend it from the ceiling of the gallery. The quilt will be large enough to continue down one wall and fall into folds on the floor. The suspended fabric will be hung slightly below head level, except for a portion near the entrance that will be hung above the top of the door (to allow viewers to enter and exit comfortably). The entire installation will be lit from above; the light will shine through the layers of fabric, illuminating the quilt and casting a warm glow over the room.

I will suspend the quilted fabric with around 40 or 50 strands of clear fishing line (monofilament), placed about six inches apart from each other. Each strand will be a different length, which
should create a rippling effect in the fabric. The entire sheet will be quilted from top to bottom with text that addresses the nature and process of memory and the idea of the quilt as a powerful memorial object. I will use white thread to sew the text, which will be based on my own experiences with quilts and quilting.

Here are two sketches to accompany the physical description. The first sketch is a cross-section of the gallery, showing all aspects of the installation. The second sketch is a partial view of the installation, as if seen lying down. The shading in this sketch shows how I imagine the fabric will be lit.

List of Materials

Clear fishing line

1" x 2"s, chicken wire or pig fencing, screws and staples for suspension frame (if necessary), rope and screws or hooks to hang

Ten to fifteen yards of translucent white fabric

Quilt batting

White sewing thread

White quilting thread

questions and references

What elements of quilting am I most interested in addressing, conceptually speaking?

How will I convey a sense of memory through the installation?

Will I use one quilt pattern or several? Will it be conceptually significant or purely aesthetic?

What stage will the quilt components be in (e.g. cut, basted, quilted, or hemmed and finished)? Will the installation show the process of quilting or will all pieces be in the same stage?

Artists to look at:

Emily Ann Nachison

Ernesto Neto

Eva Hesse (as always)

Lorrie Fredette

Giuseppe Penone