Fibre art was born in the mid-20th century as artist-craftsman attempted to produce fabrics as works of art. The 1960s saw endeavors to new formative methods, breaking from the traditional ones, resulting in diversification of techniques. In compariso...
Fibre art was born in the mid-20th century as artist-craftsman attempted to produce fabrics as works of art. The 1960s saw endeavors to new formative methods, breaking from the traditional ones, resulting in diversification of techniques. In comparison, the 1970s was an era of extensive exploration of materials as well as techniques. The exploration of non-conventional materials such as industrial or daily-life materials, in particular, enabled the production of works in various forms, including three-dimensional or installation works. Nonetheless, the expansion of materials and techniques also serves as a factor that causes confusion in the identity of fibre art. In this regard, in a bid to reestablish the status of modern fibre art, I aimed to examine the changes that fibre art has experienced in line with those in modern society since the 1960s. It particularly focused on the formativeness of works of fibre art using plastic materials that have brought innovative changes to modern industry and everyday life.
To this end, I looked into the characteristics of modern society starting from the 1960s, when fibre art had its beginning, and determined how social changes have been represented in fibre art. The rapid development of scientific technology and industry brought to modern people not only advantages represented by material affluence and the conveniences of life but also an unstable, double-sided emotion of deviation and satisfaction due to insecurity in dailiness that had not been found in traditional agrarian societies. Moreover, the advent of new materials resulting from industrial advances opened up possibilities of new formative expressions to fibre artists of the time who had been exploring a variety of materials. Plastic materials, in particular, are represented in various works of fibre art in terms of their physical characteristics such as transparency, reflectiveness, flexibility, and durability. This suggests that many everyday-life materials including plastic have many different meanings per se for artists, rather than being mere formative elements. They are selected as a medium for expressing and conveying the artist's personal emotions, trivial events and stories in everyday life, various aspects of modern society involving history, culture, consumer culture, and environmental issues, and spiritual ideas such as healing and meditation. I ascertained that the change and expansion of materials for fibre art was part of a natural transition that fiber art experienced along with trends of modern society as a genre of formative art that reflected contemporary culture in different views and manners.
Second, I analyzed in depth what materials and techniques means to fibre art by selecting and examining Sheila Hicks and Ed Rossbach as model artists, who played a pioneering role in introducing fiber art around the 1950s by seeking fabric structures as new art forms, discarding the use of traditional fibre techniques and materials. 'Minimes' by Hicks, a result of exploration of various materials and fabric structures, is an independent work of art itself and an archive of the artist's ideas for a large-scale work as well as her everyday life. Rossbach showed the potential of various expression styles of fibre art derived from the expansion of materials and techniques through his works using thrown-away or old materials from daily life to discover their artistic value.
Third, I analyzed my own work of art based on the findings of the abovementioned discussions. I first examined the reason for selecting plastic, the main material of the work and the key material discussed in this study, and its formativeness represented by its physical characteristics. Then I explained the meaning of the material and the internal discovery from the making process. Plastic bags, the key material for the work, are used in various ways in everyday life and regarded as a symbol of wasteful consumption behavior and environmental problems as opposed to its good function such as hygiene and convenience. I began creating this work by using them to produce yarns, the basic unit and essential element of a fabric. Plastic bags also have enough potential for being turned into yarns and fabrics thanks to their flexibility and durability. The making process is as important as the material to me. The process of weaving and sewing, which seems simple yet demands repetitive work for hours, allows me to experience immersion away from my daily routine and to realize the meaning of inner peace, life, and existence in the process.