Site: River Valley
Various mediums are used to reveal the tensions involved in deconstructing the cliche, “having it all”.
Care Instructions
Concrete, locally prospected and wheel-thrown clay, cotton clothesline, 2 clothespins, and photocopied image with wheatpaste on board.
How to String A Clothesline
The bowline knot thrives under tension.
Use the bowline knot to secure the clothesline rope to one anchor point. An anchor point must be strong, stable, and sturdy.
To complete the line, pass the rope around or through a second anchor point if it makes itself available.
Create a butterfly loop, and tighten. Pulling and straining the rope should not undo this loop. But there are notable instances where it has failed.
Pass the hard-working end of the rope through the butterfly loop and pull the hard-working end toward the second anchor point. This will tighten the line between the two points. The line must be tight to bear the weight of items placed on the clothesline.
If you are lucky, you may use your thumb to hold the rope against the butterfly knot, finally freeing the hard-working end from tension, even if just for a moment or weekend.
To ensure the line does not fall, create a half-hitch knot and pull it tight. For added peace of mind, tie another half-hitch behind the first. Is half-hitch better than fully hitched?
Clotheslines are a fair-weather game. They demonstrate a harmonious relationship between water, air, and light ---- they make the things we need and love feel fresh and crisp, over and over again, no matter how used. The line endures stormy circumstances only to find fair weather again, dry, and repeat. The anchor points hold the line, together nurturing the delicate items that hang requiring their care.
What happens when one anchor point is not rooted so strongly? When one anchor starts to bend, to unearth itself, to lose tension, to let go? How can the other pole still nurture the contents of the line? How can it hold fast? Hold tight? How can it continue to be part of that harmonious cycle of cleanse, dry, love, cleanse, dry, love, repeat? When all fails, what are the new care instructions?
Martha's Mirage (White Picket Fence Lace Collar)
Laser Cut Drawing Paper, Glass Beads, Satin Wrapped Steel Frame, Toddler Drawings
The scale and complexity of early 17th-century lace collars flaunted one's wealth and regal status. The dramatic and meticulously handcrafted pieces created a large, decorative frame around the face and neck (or low neckline), emphasizing the identity and status of the wearer. In present contexts, these beautiful objects provide an opportunity to study the evolution of visual representations of identity. This sculptural interpretation of a lace collar emulates high status but examine the lace patterning closely. There are motifs of picket fences, chromosomes, and droplets of blood/tears/sweat each laser cut into drawing paper. The largest motif is an exaggerated and inverted fence that positions the picket points perilously at the neck of the wearer.
What does it mean to “have it all”? Do you feel pressure to think about that concept, is it important to you? How do you define what “all” means for yourself? Once that is sorted, how do you go about doing it “all”? How do you determine if you are “doing it all” well? Does it matter? For me, parts of the answers to the aforementioned questions include sacrifice. But it is unclear how and what kinds, and it may not matter as the collar is unraveled and used as a drawing canvas by my 1 and 2-year-old children.