Drawing with Rules
2013
fabric, thread, cranberry, sticks, popcorn
6ft x 4ft
The “paper” of the drawing is a shear red curtain that was drawn on by needles and thread. My personal rules for creating a drawing was to not have normal drawing materials and to not use my own hands.The people who helped make this drawing had to use needle and thread. Their rule was to start drawing from the center out and or continue a completed line. They also sewed in parts of their environment like sticks or food.
Drawing with Rules is a duel rule based project, a set of rules for myself and one for the participants. This began with a set of rules that I had set up for myself that required that I could not have my own hands in the project and no traditional drawing materials like paper and pencil were to be used. As I was trying find a solution to my harsh self imposed rules I thought of Sol Lewitt. He often created rules or directions for instillations that other people had to start and finish in order to complete the art piece.
Since I couldn’t use my own hands I asked other people around campus it help draw for me. Their rules were to use only needle and thread and to draw a line from the center outward. They could use any color provided, had to draw on the same fabric and they did not have to have experience using sowing needles. Progressively the drawing became varied by the width, length and style of the way threads were drawn onto the fabric. For the most part the lines were drawn straight and often scrunched up the fabric. This created a spider web or brain cell look once the whole fabric was stretched out. Sometimes the participants would sew in organic materials from their surroundings like sticks. One of the hardest things that I had to do was trying to get participants; some declined in participating because they didn’t have the time or that they were intimidated by using a sewing needle. In the end the unintended consequence was that this project created five to ten minute conversations depending on how many participants and their friends were around me.
2013
fabric, thread, cranberry, sticks, popcorn
6ft x 4ft
The “paper” of the drawing is a shear red curtain that was drawn on by needles and thread. My personal rules for creating a drawing was to not have normal drawing materials and to not use my own hands.The people who helped make this drawing had to use needle and thread. Their rule was to start drawing from the center out and or continue a completed line. They also sewed in parts of their environment like sticks or food.
Drawing with Rules is a duel rule based project, a set of rules for myself and one for the participants. This began with a set of rules that I had set up for myself that required that I could not have my own hands in the project and no traditional drawing materials like paper and pencil were to be used. As I was trying find a solution to my harsh self imposed rules I thought of Sol Lewitt. He often created rules or directions for instillations that other people had to start and finish in order to complete the art piece.
Since I couldn’t use my own hands I asked other people around campus it help draw for me. Their rules were to use only needle and thread and to draw a line from the center outward. They could use any color provided, had to draw on the same fabric and they did not have to have experience using sowing needles. Progressively the drawing became varied by the width, length and style of the way threads were drawn onto the fabric. For the most part the lines were drawn straight and often scrunched up the fabric. This created a spider web or brain cell look once the whole fabric was stretched out. Sometimes the participants would sew in organic materials from their surroundings like sticks. One of the hardest things that I had to do was trying to get participants; some declined in participating because they didn’t have the time or that they were intimidated by using a sewing needle. In the end the unintended consequence was that this project created five to ten minute conversations depending on how many participants and their friends were around me.
