weaving with light
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
SOFA Connect Proposal 2015
weaving
with light
By 1900 the world-spanning New Bedford whaling industry was in
steep decline. The whale oil that had lit lamps across the globe was
being replaced by petroleum and much of the great whaling fleet was
destroyed in the Civil War.
But while the whaling industry declined, a new industry — textiles
— grew to take its place. Beginning with a small cotton yarn mill
on the Acushnet River in 1799, New Bedford textiles expanded and
flourished. The first Wamsutta mill, incorporated in 1846, was soon
followed by a second and a third, and other companies moved in. In the
1880s, primarily due to the burgeoning textiles industry, New Bedford
grew faster than any other city on the Eastern Seaboard. By 1900 New
Bedford dominated the market in fine cotton goods.
Last year at SOFA Connect the University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth
chose “New Bedford: City of Light” as its theme. This year the focus
of UMassD’s Artisanry Department proposal is on the textile industry
that helped clothe the world.
The textile industry weaves together important chapters in New
Bedford’s past and its present. Just as the mansions of whaling ship
owners and captains that line County Street remind resident and visitor
alike of New Bedford’s whaling past, the stately mills that line the city’s
Acushnet River waterfront from the north end to the hurricane dike
stand as testimony to the significance of the city’s textiles. While many
of the mills have been converted to other uses — renovated as luxury
condominiums or outfitted as artists’ studios ­­— some continue life as
sites for the manufacture of textiles, and the city increasingly attracts
outstanding apparel designers/manufacturers such as Joseph Aboud
thanks to its available mill space, its skilled labor force, and its heritage.
The University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth Department of Artisanry
pays tribute to this heritage in our SOFA Connect entry Weaving with Light.
Our Weaving with Light exhibit is highly interactive, enticing the visitor
to participate in the actual production of cloth and drawing his or her
attention to the making process used by contemporary fiber artists.
Within the exhibit, six working single-person looms are arranged in
a semi-circle facing the wall at the opposite side of the 24 by 24-foot
space. The warp yarns that feed each loom rise from the front of the
loom to a gathering roller at the top of the wall and include fiber optical
strands intermixed with the yarns. The yarns from the individual
looms crisscross one another on their way to the wall, creating the
illusion of an enclosed space or an angled ceiling. This serves to visually
enclose those inside the exhibit and physically contain them within the
environment while temporarily isolating them from the flow of foot
traffic and surrounding installations. A band of finished fabric, its optic
fibers illuminated, spans the center of the installation from the looms
to the wall, illustrating the dramatic luminance of the fabrics yet to
be created. Opposite the looms, vintage still photos of mill buildings,
interiors, and workers projected on the wall illustrate some of the
actual operations and conditions of mill life.
Upon entering the Weaving exhibit the visitor/participant is presented
with a facsimile punch/time card that engages with a loom and
serves as a take-away souvenir. The participant is seated at a loom
and given simple instruction on the loom’s operation, meaning that
each participant interacts directly with one of the student exhibitors.
Once instructed, the participant begins to weave a length of fabric
by working the loom’s treadle. Rather than the static stand-and-look
experience offered by many exhibits, Weaving elevates the participant
to an actor in the ongoing creation of the exhibit. The colorful bands of
fabric that gradually emerge from the looms are the palpable work of
the volunteer maker. Not the least of the exhibit’s appeal is the lure for
the participant to return to witness the progress of the textile’s growth
throughout the day.
The exhibit includes an attractive aural component. The participant’s
time card contains a metal strip that, inserted in the loom, turns on
a light and activates soft, lively period music. As more and more of
the looms are operated, the more layered and rich the sound. This
aural addition not only adds to the historical sense of the piece and
encourages multiple people to participate, it acts as an audio teaser for
the exhibit, drawing other visitors in.
Weaving with Light provides the visitor a richly immersive experience.
The participant touches and interacts with the structure of the exhibit as
he/she operates a loom and manipulates the fabric it produces, helping
to create the core of the installation.The physical pumping of the treadle
combined with the background music is soothing, almost hypnotic, and
supplies a tangible link to the history of textile making; the projected
vintage images deepen this sense of history. A central component of the
installation is social involvement. The student facilitators guide visitors,
demonstrating the looms and encouraging participation. The semicircular arrangement of the looms fosters a sense of community, and the
woven fabric that emerges is communally created art. The participant
leaves the exhibit with a punched time card, a memento that they have
earned. And they leave with the understanding that the city of New
Bedford, Massachusetts is noteworthy not only for its whaling past but
for its textiles past, present, and future.