Exhibition Views

http://krause.uoregon.edu/2011/04/19/materiality-a-craft-exhibition/

Materiality is an exhibition curated by Liz Glass and Lyndsay Rice, showcasing work from the California College of the Arts and the University of Oregon. Conceived out of an interest to investigate the uses of craft in these two communities, Materiality brings together works in a multitude of materals. 

The works in Materiality reflect the expansive use of craft materials and methods to create expressive objects. Usually associated with the dialogue of “use,” these works demonstrate the ability of craft to transcend function, and the power of the materials at conveying concepts. Some of the works build their own mythology, while others activate pre-existing cultural tropes; some are engaged, primarily, with examining the nature of their own material, and others use these media as a means to an end. The works inMateriality take up many themes personal and cultural themes, including the hiddenness of history, the collision of cultural forms, and the experience of sound.

Max Esplin

 There is power in ritual. This is highly important in the Mormon religion, as well as in the nighttime soap dramas on television. Every week the Sacrament is served, and sins can be washed away. Every week, Criminal Minds is able to locate a serial killer or arsonist through some minute detail, and the world is better until the next episode. I see a systematized obsession starting to take place in my practice embodied in the ritual of making. I make these objects in order to reflect the objects I have seen the Society use. But, my resources are limited and I can’t remake them perfectly accurate. Through ritual, these obviously hand-made objects become accurate stand-ins for what I have seen. Common craft store materials are invested with magic to become “art”. A fetish is an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency.[1] My work is my fetish.

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[1] fetish. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fetish (accessed: April 05, 2011).

Alex Hernandez

I create interventions on craft by embroidering on top of objects originally used as decorative substance around the home. In doing so, I bring themes of darkness out into the light. Subjects such as domestic abuse, substance abuse, violence, gender roles, alternative lifestyles, oppression, and other subjects often ignored in a household setting. I use my own history to create motifs to enhance objects and materials that were once useful in homes, but now discarded, forgotten or lost.

Alida Bevirt

Fur neck piece I

Investigation of opulence inherently possessed within fur. The silhouette is a mutating mass of decoration. The direction of the hair gives the sense of hackles raised, as this adornment is emotive to the wearer. The zippers act to show cutting and mending.

Robert Mertens

R. Mertens

SoniCraft Manifesto

SoniCraft is the combination and comparison of similar tactile, structural, spacial and rhythmic qualities sound and fibers can haptically manifest. In other words, the physical perceptual qualities produced by soundwaves, and material textures. Developed and organized by R. Mertens, this series combines performance, fibers techniques and sound installations. These works utilizes public participation as a shared activation of space and memory.

SoniCraft identifies similar actions within fibers and sound such as: spinning, splicing, weaving, patching, sampling, looping, clipping and gating, I intend to give the viewer the opportunity to discover these tactual attributes through a sense of “performance”. This performance can be thought of as: exploring the space around my installations, contributing to the installation via taught craft, or intervening into the set pattern to reconstruct the installation.

SoniCraft allows the audience to explore the shifting tactile traits of the sonic or fibrous materials and gives the audience an opportunity to choreograph their own “performance” experience. Through this “performed” contribution they help to change or modify the installation, which alters other interpretations of the viewing experience.  Similarly, allowing the audience to interact and re-pattern/organize the installation; this offers a perpetual re-experiencing of the installations.

Carlos Ramirez

 

Carlos Ramirez

Crushing Nickels Into Quarters

In my series of work, Crushing Nickels Into Quarters, I draw from imagery of 1980s video games, Meso-American architecture, and Minimalism to make sculptural work in reference to times of transition and change. Using clay, I give material to the immaterial by creating monuments to the signposts in my life. Through my work, I seek to connect to others who have had similar feelings arise out of experiences of great upheaval and change.