Collect Craft Fair 2024 at Somerset House
WRITTEN BY DR BIRGITTA HUSE
A monography is a “detailed written study of a single specialised subject or an aspect of it”. Several of the most interesting text(-ile) creations at this years’ fair are dedicated towards studying some deeper layers of meaning behind what is visible at first sight. Textiles are, again, a clearly visible and important part of Collect fair for contemporary craft and design – the twentieth of its kind, at Somerset House.
A special Collect highlight is the result of a collaboration of composer Helen Caddick and textile artist Margo Selby: the site-specific installation titled Moon Landing. The 16 m long weaving is situated within the Stamp Stairwell at Somerset House and is perceived as an element which connects several floor levels. The view onto the textile work changes with every step on the staircase, the front and the back are visible, to look down from above is as insightful as looking towards the top from downstairs. The changing light conditions depending on weather and daytime are offering a playful accessibility to colours and texture.
Apart from connecting five floors, the woven piece of art represents a connection between music, science, weaving and textile art. Caddick’s new composition Moon Landing is inspired by First Nations women’s weaving techniques which were crucial for the success of the first mission to the moon in 1969. Weaving is based on technical knowledge. Mechanical looms produce repetitive sounds, a kind of music which accompanies the weaving process. Textile artist Selby translated Caddick’s composition into a textile which makes sounds visible via colours and geometric forms. The live premier of the string music composition in combination with the woven textile on the first Collect preview evening was performed by six female musicians and composer Helen Caddick. It certainly was a once in a lifetime experience for me trying to read what I heard on the 16 m long textile from top to bottom. Also, the installation and the performance triggered memories of the moment I witnessed the TV news about the first landing on the moon in 1969 as a child.
Altogether these creative text(-ile) works exhibited at the craft and design fair reflect on themes of up-to-date interest using writing as a base. Connections between different forms of knowledge like mathematics, music and weaving are studied, personal ideas and memories, thoughts about our world and migration and queer experiences are written down with yarns and fabrics and shared with others in the form of readable texts. Site-sensitivity is applied and a length of 16 meters goes beyond the scope of size dimensions which are usually associated with craft pieces.
