11/21/08: Open Army
11/21/08: Open Army
In discussing Ginger Brooks Takahashi’s an army of lovers cannot fail with visitors over the last month and a half, I have heard a broad assortment of references. Does Ginger have any connection to Hawaiian quilting traditions? Am I familiar with a group of Israeli artists who also use textile to address feminist themes? What about Portland-based “half cowboy, half Indian” artist Marie Watt who has been mining the cultural, psychological and aesthetic histories of wool blankets for years and has also invited others to join her in stitching (see “Marie Watt’s Sewing Circle” http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2008/04/marie_watts_sewing_circl...)? Or Oakland-based Nathaniel Parsons whose projects have included public fortune telling, canoe-rides on land, and a traveling picnic table set up in different locations for people to gather, talk and make things? He states on his website www.ihavebeento.com a particular interest in “situations where the image or object is found in a process of conversation with a viewer or visitor.” This is not to mention the large numbers of women-—mostly of an older generation—-who have shared stories with me of quilting traditions in their own families, with great enthusiasm that a young artist has chosen to take up this time-honored craft. All this tells me that there is something far-reaching about an army of lovers cannot fail: a project that begins in a very specific (queer) community extends far beyond, and comes to include, affect and engage with a much broader range of people. Quilting has always been a “social practice” but in a contemporary art institution, this itself becomes a surprising—perhaps radical—gesture. And the more inclusive the army, the more powerful it may be.
—Becky Brown