The Thinking Material: Text and Textile

This year, the Think.Zone draws on the etymology of the Latin verb “to weave” (texere) to bring together text and textile in a reflection on the theoretical potential of materials. In contrast to a conception of matter as passive, merely awaiting the idea that would give it form, we will consider that the material chosen for artistic creation thinks for itself.

On the side of text, we will pay attention to the circulation between words and images, to the capacity of language to operate in the visual register. The notion of strangeness will serve as our guiding thread in examining the passage from one language to another, as well as the place given to translation within post- and decolonial studies.

The textile part of the course will offer an overview of the history of fiber art, a term that emerged in the 1960s, but our interest in this material stems above all from its presence in many contemporary practices. The Think.Zone will explore various questions raised by the place of textiles in the visual arts: the feminine connotations of needlework, the construction of gender, feminist uses of this material, the old distinction between major and minor art, craft, manual making, and the political scope of textile art.

Participants in the Think.Zone will have the opportunity to present their work, whether in mediums central to the course — such as writing, language, sound, or textiles — or in any other material.

Image: Etel Adnan, Nahar Mubarak, 1990