An Invitation from an Artist

An invitation from an artist was an open studio event / exhibition at Bellingham Heritage Centre. Small works (videos and small sculptural weavings) were placed within the museum displays. The artist invited visitors to explore the exhibits together with small samples of mineral, wool or vegetation. Below is the text distributed at the event

In 1965 Anni Albers’ seminal book On Weaving was published. Chapter eight, entitled Tactile Sensibility, encourages students of weaving to explore the world engaging with the different surface textures of things like moss and bark and metal. In a much earlier piece or writing for the Black Mountain Bulletin (1938) she describes weaving as the “adventure of being close to the stuff the world is made of.”

Anni Albers’ philosophy of making has been one of the major influences on my work for the Entwined residency. For this open studio event I have made several small responses to the information contained within the Heritage Centre and how it relates to my experiences in the surrounding landscape. These responses take the form of five objects and three short video pieces that have been  temporarily integrated into the Heritage Centre displays.

Today I invite you to explore the displays in Bellingham Heritage Centre and seek out my small responses in the spirit of Tactile Sensibility.

Please take one of the small samples of what I consider to be stuff the world is made of, components of the landscape from the animal, mineral* and vegetable realms.

Hold the sample in your hand whilst you walk around the Heritage Centre.

Smell it.

Feel the weight of it in your palm.

Think about how it relates to your body.

Think about how it relates to the objects and images you are seeing in the Heritage Centre.