KINdoms: textiling with the more-than-human

Curated by Patricia Brien

KINdoms: Textiling with the more-than-human is an exploration of the mesh of plant, animal, mineral and human networks across time, place and material states. It is inspired by concepts around the ‘vibrancy of matter’ and draws on New Materialist, eco-feminist and eco-phenomenologist theories.

These approaches seek to dispense with hierarchies between humans, ecosystems and all creatures great and small. Indeed, creaturesare but one category and sometimes the smallis infinitely unknowable to the human eye but perceptible to other senses. When we are attentive we may encounter the vibrant matter around us, and we can respond.

Just as there are no fixed boundaries between ecosystems, so there are no limits to the ‘porous nature of things’ (Jane Bennett). Matter converges and dissipates and humans are one of many active agents in this process. As the unchecked effects of the dominant post-industrial complex mark the epoch of the Anthropocene there is an emerging sense of urgency, a call to activism as the human species is exposed, found to be completely interdependent with other species.

Textiles embody this material and, sometimes, uncannily immaterial convergence of diverse elements. The more-than-human network embedded within cloth is legible but sometimes its actual materiality is only a trace, a stitch, a faded colour, the spectre of a sentient being, a mapping of cosmic and weather patterns. We are enmeshed in textile material cultures: on and withinour bodies, where we dwell, as we move through the world.

The themes that have surfaced in KINdoms acknowledge the complexity of relations between human geographies and more-than-human ecosystems both real and imagined. There are places and practices invoking emotional attachment, hauntings, resistance, imagination, mourning and solace. There is a strong current of time folding upon itself as the past, present and future coexist as parallel layers within a material object.

The working, mending, movement and dance conveyed through techniques including stitch, weave, dye, decomposition, recycling, and film embody processes that aren’t always immediately evident. While we may be cognisant of the cultural, political, economic and gendered relations evidenced in material objects we might reconsider our own relations beyond human networks, expanding and merging in ‘the flesh of the world’ (Merleau-Ponty).

Artists

Nikki Allford
Patricia Brien
Nicholas Cheeseman
Juliet Duckworth
Annelies Egli & Joanna Espiner
Alison Harper
Bridget Kennedy
Sabine Kussmaul
Amanda Lwin
Lisa Porch
Milly Rowland

[image: Amanda Lwin: The Cartographer Tries to Map her Way to Deptford]

Fore more information go to https://artdotearth.org/exhibition-summer18-3/

Sheila Ghelani and Sue Palmer in COMMON SALT

Ship Studio at Dartington Hall, September 28 2018

There are two performances with limited seating: 18.00 and 20.00. Select your preferred time on booking.

This is an intimate performance with very limited tickets. Common Salt will be performed at 18:00 and again at 20:00. Choose your preferred time when you book.

Common Salt is a performance around a table – a ‘show and tell’.

It explores the colonial, geographical history of England and India taking an expansive and emotional time-travel, from the first Enclosure Act and the start of the East India Company in the 1600s, to 21st century narratives of trade, race and culture.

Sue and Sheila activate insights into our shared past, laying out a ‘home museum’ of objects and stories; of the Great Hedge of India, of borders, and collections – all accompanied by original Shruti box laments.

Common Saltis a reckoning; the interconnectedness between history and global power, artefact and trade, race and memory is hidden in plain sight.

Read full details…
BOOK TICKETS

Sheila Ghelani and Sue Palmer in COMMON SALT

Ship Studio at Dartington Hall, September 28 2018

There are two performances with limited seating: 18.00 and 20.00. Select your preferred time on booking.

This is an intimate performance with very limited tickets. Common Salt will be performed at 18:00 and again at 20:00. Choose your preferred time when you book.

Common Salt is a performance around a table – a ‘show and tell’.

It explores the colonial, geographical history of England and India taking an expansive and emotional time-travel, from the first Enclosure Act and the start of the East India Company in the 1600s, to 21st century narratives of trade, race and culture.

Sue and Sheila activate insights into our shared past, laying out a ‘home museum’ of objects and stories; of the Great Hedge of India, of borders, and collections – all accompanied by original Shruti box laments.

Common Saltis a reckoning; the interconnectedness between history and global power, artefact and trade, race and memory is hidden in plain sight.

Read full details…
BOOK TICKETS

Visit our Featured Artist of the month selected from the art.earth membership.nnThis feature is published on the 1st of every month.

Listen to an eclectic mix of sound, music, interviews, and news. Presented alternatively by Laura Denning and Richard Povall. Listen li

First Fridays happen (surprise!) on the first Friday of every month, except January. First Fridays is a gathering place for artists or anyone interested in the arts, an opportunity to share food and talk. Each month, after lunch, there is an informal presentation of work in progress by one or two artists who may be local or from far away.

You can check out details on our events listing on Facebook.

Join us on October 5 for First Friday AND a meet-the-artists reception (FREE and open to all)

As always, we gather at 1pm for a shared lunch – bring something to share. Around 2, we re-convene for our guest artist talk (with a slightly different format this month).

This month we’ll be meeting some of the artists involved in the current exhibition at the Garden Room Gallery (gardenroomgallery.com). KINdoms: textiling with the more-than-human is curated by Patricia Brien and is an exploration of the mesh of plant, animal, mineral and human networks across time, place and material states. It is inspired by concepts around the ‘vibrancy of matter’ and draws on New Materialist, eco-feminist and eco-phenomenologist theories. Two or three of the artists involved in the exhibition will be on hand to talk about their work and invite discussion and conversation.

Read the details…

Listen to an eclectic mix of sound, music, interviews, and news. Presented alternatively by Laura Denning and Richard Povall. Listen li

Artists Sara Downham-Lotto and Stacey Righton show work which has been influenced by the use of natural materials in collaborations and explorations with others.  For Sara, the work is a departure from painting into collage.  Stacey has always been interested in using whatever materials are available; recently her palette has been the fruits of the landscape:  galls, walnuts, berries.

Read details…