Berkeley Art Museum / part of the exhibition 'The Possible' / organized by artist David Wilson, with Director Lawrence Rinder / January 31 - May 24, 2014
Domestic Integrities rug deputies (Caroline Walters, Francesca Ferreira-Caruana, Valentina Castro, Rumi Koshino, Natalie Palms, and Natalie So) specially trained in the crochet technique will periodically be working on expanding the rug with locally donated clothes and textiles. They will also train museum visitors who want to help work on the rug.
Establishing a plant-animal-people trilogy with the Edible Estates (est. 2005) series of front yard food gardens and the Animal Estates (est. 2008) initiatives for urban wildlife architecture, Domestic Integrities (est. 2012) turns it’s attention inward, to local patterns and rituals of interior domestic landscapes, the way we use what we resourcefully find around us to artfully make ourselves at home, bringing the outdoors in. Domestic Integrity Fields are charged sites - on crocheted rugs of discarded textiles - to test, perform, and present how we want to live. One rug in each continent gradually expands as it travels from city to city. The sixth American edition of Domestic Integrities in city of Berkeley, follows editions at MoMA in New York, the new Broad Museum of Art in Michigan, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the deCordeva Museum in Lincoln, MA and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.
'The Possible' is an experimental exhibition that reconceives the museum as a site for creative convergence. You will have the chance to be a part of this evolving exhibition by engaging directly with an exciting array of visiting artists. As an open platform for shared creativity and the exploration of diverse artistic techniques, The Possible combines studio, classroom, library, gallery, and stage. A multisensory library provides context and inspiration, while the galleries are reconfigured as a series of workspaces: a ceramics studio, dye lab, print shop, and recording studio. Collaborating with one another and the public, a diverse range of guest artists will use these studios to create new work in a public forum. The finished works will filter into a gallery installation, building the exhibition over time. We hope to inspire a spirit of experimentation, improvisation, and play by providing opportunities for artists to go deeper into familiar mediums, experience new practices, and work collaboratively. The studios will function as classrooms during a series of Sunday public workshops and audiences will also be invited to participate in discussions, performances, and field trips during the course of the exhibition. And bring the whole family to Kids Club, a special gallery devoted to engaging children in the creative process that is at the heart of this project.
The Domestic Integrities rug will be on view in the central rotunda of the Berkeley Art Museum, arriving from Minneapolis at 27 feet in diameter. The rug will expandthrough the run of the show with the help of the public and local volunteers crocheting in locally collected old clothes and textiles. Other participating 'The Possible' artists will use the rug as an occasional forum for gathering and presenting work related to home.
Events on the rug with Fritz Haeg:
PUBLIC RUG CROCHET WORKSHOP
Saturday, February 1st & Sunday, February 2nd, 11am-5pm
Rug crochet training for the public and the participants who want to work on the rug through the run of the show while the artist is away. Soup is served.
OPENING CEREMONY
Friday, February 28th, 6-9pm
Group movement activities will be lead on the rug incorporating knitted cape/caftan/Parangolés/scarf/shawl/vestment/wrap wearable sculptures.
SUNDAY WORKSHOP
Sunday, May 18th, 11am-5pm
A day to informally visit Possible participants to see what they have been producing and gather materials/objects/furniture/pedestals for the final rug installation the following weekend.
RECORDED CLOSING CONVERSATIONS
Monday, May 19th to Thursday, May 22nd, 5-6:30pm
A series of conversations with locals whose work is related or has inspired Domestic Integrities. The one on one talks will be recorded and transcribed for a future publication.
WORK WITH EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD STUDENTS
Monday, May 19 to Thursday, May 22nd
Working with the Edible Schoolyard students in their garden or on the rug periodically through the weekdays leading up to the final event.
PRODUCE PROCESSION & INSTALLATION
Friday, May 23rd, late afternoon/early evening
A student procession from the Edible Schoolyard gardens with produce to Berkeley Art Museum. The students place the produce they grew upon pedestals on the Domestic Integrities rug. The arrangement dis-assembled & distributed to the The Possible participants upon closing the next day, Saturday, May 24.
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