Speaking of saving... I am a hoarder of magazines, and things from magazines. One of the things I have been doing lately is going through all these piles of paper, and sorting them into proper files, or pitching them. In the process. I ran across a rather short-lived magazine called "Art Today." In this issue (Fall 1989) the cover story is about tapestry, and is sub-titled, "Weaving as a Subversive Activity." I loved the article then, and still do, so I'm going to share a small bit with you. (It was written by Charles Talley)
"There is almost no activity that appears to fly so much in the face of currently accepted conventions of both contemporary art and culture as does that of tapestry weaving. With stubborn insistence, a small but dedicated band of artists around the United States and the world take their positions at the loom -- a tool which has changed little since the Middle Ages -- passing colored yarns in and out of tautly held warp threads creating woven works of wonder. In the era of the video recorder and FAX machine, tapestry weaving appears to be a singularly anachronistic enterprise....
The very nature of the weaving process and the materials which it uses challenges the cynical indifference of a throw-away culture. Tapestry's essential insistence on craft skill and intensity of labor are a direct affront to the demand for instant gratification in our consumer-oriented society."
Cool. I always knew I was quite radical!
(in a quiet-all-by-myself-in-the-studio-sort-of-way.)
1 comment:
Thanks for the posting about the Charles Talley article!
I'd like to read the whole thing and use it with my students, as well.
I'll see if I can find an old issue.
Tommye
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