Chiefly illustrated. "This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Ann Hamilton: habitus, organized by The Fabric Workshop and Museum (Municipal Pier 9 : September 6-October 10, 2016; The Fabric Workshop and Museum: September 17, 2016-January 8, 2017)"--Colophon. Includes bibliographical references.
Summary:
Cloth making -- among the oldest forms of human cultural production -- provides inspiration for Ann Hamilton's multi-venue project, 'habitus', located at three sites: The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Municipal Pier 9, and on social media. 'habitus' weaves text, textile, and image together as mediums for an imaginative and tactile exchange between artist and audience. The museum's galleries display Hamilton's selection of historical objects -- including literacy commonlace books, textile sample books, dolls, and needwork portfolios -- borrowed from Philadelphia museums and public collections. Printed passages from published writings referencing the social and material life of textiles, and collected through an open call to the public at http://cloth-a-commonplace.tumblr.com, will be available free to museum visitors. In the vast space of Municipal Pier 9 on the Delaware River, visitors propel a field of gigantic cylindrical curtains to billow to atmospheric proportion. As cloth swaddles us at birth and covers us in sleep; as a folded blanket can tell a story of trade; as a flag carries the symbol of a nation, Hamilton's multi-venue exhibition 'habitus' invites us to touch and be touched by the fabric of human experience -- Publisher's statement. "Held by cloth's hand, we are swaddled at birth, covered in sleep, and wound in death," muses artist Ann Hamilton. Rather than documenting the experience of her enormous immersive 2016-17 installation in Philadelphia, Hamilton offers here a document--one that is as much a part of the project as its three-dimensional counterparts. Lush photography, archival imagery, and lucid prose come together to help readers understand Hamilton's ideas about the fabric of and in our lives. Like a thread through cloth, these individual images and words weave together strands of history, technology, poetry, and motion into one extraordinary and compelling experience.--Exhibition: The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, USA (17.09.2016-08.01.2017).
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.