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https://theconversation.com/15-000-squares-500-hours-19-months-how-i-used-embroidery-to-make-sense-of-australias-catastrophic-fires-227907>
"I slip the needle through a small loop of black thread, pull it tight and
snip. Done. I have just tied off the very last stitch on an embroidered scroll
that has taken me more than 500 hours across 19 months to complete.
All of my artwork is extremely labour-intensive. But I have to admit, this is a
bit excessive, even for me. It’s not surprising that I have been asked more
than once “why not just outsource the labour?” and even “what is the point?”
I always sigh and think enviously of plumbers. I am 100% sure hardworking
tradies are never asked to justify the point of their work.
Why do I work so hard? There is no one easy answer, it’s different every time.
The labour intensity of my processes adds time into the equation and this both
carries meaning and can change the meaning of the work as it goes on (and on
and on). I always learn something unexpected.
I put my little scissors down and, before busting out the bubbles, I snap a
picture for Instagram because #selfpromotion, but also because this is news,
albeit of a very slow-breaking kind. This is what I’ve learned after stitching
for seemingly endless hours: while no news may be good news, “slow news” is
even better.
My embroidered scroll is titled
Impossible Numbers. It started as my attempt
to memorialise the estimated 3,000,000,000 non-human lives lost in the
devastating bushfires of 2019–20, a number impossible to actually comprehend."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
