The goal of the International Fiber Collaborative is to provide an opportunity for people who enjoy working with crafts, whether professional artists, hobbyists or students to come together from all over the world to express their concerns about their countries extreme dependency on oil for energy. Those who participate will crochet, knit, stitch, patch, or collage 3 foot square fiber panels that will express each participants concern about this topic. Your panel need not contain an image or be a literal portrayal of your idea. Simply by designing and creating a panel of any colors and any fiber technique and participating in this project you are, in the larger picture, expressing your concern about this important subject to the rest of the world. In April 2008, they will be sewn together to completely cover an abandoned gas station in central New York State.
My Thoughts...
As this collaborative continues to grow and become more tightly connected to its local community, one thing has become increasingly clear - there is great potential to propel this project further through travel and collaboration with other communities. At one particular gas station in Syracuse, NY, more than 1,000 local grade school and college-level students are participating. Not only does this project enable them to become part of a nationally recognized public art project and talk about greater world issues, but it gives then the opportunity to learn traditional fiber art techniques such as knitting, crocheting, sculpting, and quilting, as well. Tapping into the international fiber community has allowed me to blur the line between tradition and the contemporary state of political, educational, and studio awareness.
My Thoughts...
As this collaborative continues to grow and become more tightly connected to its local community, one thing has become increasingly clear - there is great potential to propel this project further through travel and collaboration with other communities. At one particular gas station in Syracuse, NY, more than 1,000 local grade school and college-level students are participating. Not only does this project enable them to become part of a nationally recognized public art project and talk about greater world issues, but it gives then the opportunity to learn traditional fiber art techniques such as knitting, crocheting, sculpting, and quilting, as well. Tapping into the international fiber community has allowed me to blur the line between tradition and the contemporary state of political, educational, and studio awareness.
