FIBERART AS SCULPTURE, by Vivian Silva.

FIBERART AS SCULPTURE, by Vivian Silva.

An important American artist to the concept of Fiberart as Sculpture was Claire Zeisler. The artist studied Sculpture with Archipenko; she admitted the influence of two teachers from the Institute of Design - The New Bauhaus/ Chicago: Eugene Dona (Two Dimensional Design), and Marly Ermine (Weaving).

Zeisler defined Fibersculpture as a

[…] free-standing piece that could support itself without a foreign armature in it…. making a form that was really unique to fiber.[ …]

An interview with the artist was conducted in 1981, June, by Dennis Barrie, for the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, that started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

DB: Were you interested in the, you know, [fiberesque] sculpture? Did that kind of…
 

CZ: I was then. My goal was really to make a free-standing piece that could support itself without a foreign armature in it. And what I mean by a foreign armature is the metal piece. . . .

DB: Um hmm, wood.
 

CZ: . . . or wood, or what have you. And I made quite a few around 1967. You know, I had a very important show in 1968 at the [Feigen] Gallery in Chicago. And that was the first time that anybody in the fiber field had ever passed to a fine arts gallery.[…]

CZ: And, you see, the reason I wanted to do it was I was interested, and I still am, in making a form that was really unique to fiber. I almost forgot to say that in that. . .

DB: I think that’s a very important statement.’s about the most important thing that was in my head.’t be done or reproduced in any other material.’d used a foreign armature in the very beginning, I would have gotten a very different shape, and it wouldn’t have been unique to fiber. Now I don’t really know whether I succeeded in making a shape that was unique to fiber; I have no idea. I have a feeling I did a little bit. And I’ve always said that I want to go back to that, to see if I could really do it.

One of the first Free-standing Fibersculptures was presented by American artist Lois Lancaster (1932-): she made immense wool balls, free standing in space: she recovered for Fiberart the woman’s technique of embellishment of tricot garments and caps, with her photos reproduced (CONSTANTINE & LARSEN, 1973).

Another pioneer in American Fiberart is Lenore Tawney (1925-): she, with Claire Zeisler (1903-1991), and Sheila Hicks (1934-), were the first American Fiberartists to present in Europe the exhibition Sculptures in Fiber, at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Zurich, 1963).

 

But, what is Tapestry? How Tapestry became　Fiberart, or Fibersculpture, or Fiberart Installation (or Fiberinstallation), as part of a Fiberart Culture or Fiberculture in the twentieth Century? After more than three decades of daily work with textiles and observation of the evolution of a textile form of art, I have defined each category as follows:　

I.0 Tapestry

The name refers to all the flat surface geometric textile work produced to be placed on a wall, and executed manually with many traditional types of threads such as wool & silk, silver & gold, sinthetic or natural, in one and only traditional textile technique such as embroidery or weaving in any type of loom.

So, never mind if the drawings are figurative or abstract, even Le Corbusier Murs de Laine are tapestries, only that they are Mural Tapestries, among others such as the tapestries of any size produced in workshops such as Gobelin, Savonnerie, Aubusson among other famous international ateliers.

2.0 Fiberart:

The name refers to all the textile work placed on a wall, or on the floor, or in space, that is the result of a personal research of a Fiberartist, and executed manually with any kind of textile techniques such as embroidery, fabric collages and weaving, or a mixture of techniques, or any other, new or invented, with the help of any kind of instrument or any kind of structure and material or a mix of materials.

3.0 Fiberart Mural or Fibermural:

The name refers to all the textile work placed on a wall as a result of a personal research of a Fiberartist,　 executed manually with any kind of textile techniques such as embroidery, fabric collages or weaving, or in a mixture of techniques or any other, with the help of any kind of instrument or any kind of structure and material, or in a mix of materials, with the dimension superior to 3.50 m2.

4.0 Fibersculpture:

The name refers to all the textile spatial work, free-hanging in space or free-standing on the floor, or placed on a wall, as a result of a personal research of a Fiberartist,　 executed manually in any form and texture and in any kind of textile technique such as embroidery, fabric collages and weaving or in a mixture of techniques produced in any kind of loom or with the help of any kind of artifact or material, or the mix of many materials and techniques.

The Fibersculptures can be classified in 3 types:

4.1-Fibersculpture: Type 01.

Is the result of a personal research of a Fiberartist, a free-standing or free-hanging piece that can support itself without a foreign armature in it, a form that is really unique to fiber (Silva, Vivian, based on Claire Zeisler, 1981, declaration.^[2]

4.2-Fibersculpture: Type 02.

Is the result of a personal research of a Fiberartist, a free-standing or free-hanging piece that can support itself with the help of an armature in it, in a form that is not really unique only to Fiber (Silva, Vivian, based on Claire Zeisler, 1981, declaration).

 

4.3-Fibersculpture: Type 03.

Is the result of a personal research of a Fiberartist, a free-standing piece that can support itself only with an armature in the structure of the textile, in a integrated presentation of a foreign material and the Fiber.^[3]

　

Another concept in the evolution of Fiberart came after Fibersculptures: the Fiberart Installations, that represented the evolution of the Fibersculpture work.

5.0 FIBERART INSTALLATION or FIBERINSTALLATION.

Is the result of a personal research of a Fiberartist, a composition with various free-standing or free hangings pieces, showing a set of related works made in any kind of technique and in any kind of material or in a mixture of material(s), related to the Fiberart concept, or material, or technique, in an integrated and coherent presentation.

6.0 FIBERART CULTURE, or FIBERCULTURE.

The denomination Fiberart Culture or Fiberculture includes all types of textiles, such as Tapestry, Fiberart, Fibermural and Fibersculpture and Fiberinstallations of all types, realized with all types of techniques including the mixture of various techniques; realized in any kind of surface including the body, and with any kind of material or mixture of materials, even using material(s) foreign to the Fiberculture, but, in those cases, the work must be formal and intellectually linked to the Fiberart(s) concept(s), and as the result of the creativity and personal research of a Fiberartist.

So, works done with all kinds of the new Digital, Genetic, among other new and innovative technologies, might become a Fiberculture work, and the artist might become a Fiberartist, and the work might be accepted in Fiberculture exibition(s).

NOTES:

^[1]
The transcript of this interview is in the public domain and may be used without permission. Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Claire Zeisler, 1981 June, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

[2] a very different shape that could support itself without a foreign armature in it…. making a form that was really unique to fiber. …Now, if I’d used a foreign armature in the very beginning, I would have gotten, and it wouldn’t have been unique to fiber […] (ZEISLER, 1981).

[3]

Silva, V., based on Zeisler, C.,1981, declaration; and on personal observation of the Fibersculpture of Joan Livinstone in the 11th Biennial of Tapestry, Lausanne, 1985.

SELECTED REFERENCES:

CATÁLOGO. Exposição Nacional de Arte Têxtil/ 85. Porto Alegre: MARGS, 1985.
CATÁLOGO. HERZOGENRATH, K. Bauhaus: 50 Jahre Bauhaus. Tradução de Karl-Georg Bitterberg, Stuttgart: Würtembergischen Kunstverein, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, 1974, pp. 24-27, 85-94.

CATÁLOGO. II Trienal de Tapeçaria. São Paulo: MAM, 1979.

CATÁLOGO. III Trienal de Tapeçaria. São Paulo: MAM, 1982.

CATÁLOGO. VII Bienal de São Paulo. São Paulo: Fundação Bienal, set/ nov/ 1965, p. 460.

CATÁLOGO. 1er Encuentro Latinoamericano de Mini-Textil. Montevideo: Subte Municipal, 12-30 Ago., 1988.

CÁURIO, R. Artêxtil no Brasil: Viagem pelo mundo da tapeçaria. Rio de Janeiro: 1985. 304p, il., algumas color., 21,5 x 29,5 cm.

CONSTANTINE, M: LARSEN, J. L. Beyond Craft: The Art Fabric. New York, Cincinnati, London, Toronto, Melbourne: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973. 293p., il., algumas color. 26,5 x 35,5 cm.

CONSTANTINE, M.; LARSEN, J. L. The Art Fabric: Mainstream. New York, Cincinnati, London, Toronto, Melbourne: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1979, 293p., il., algumas color.
FOLHETO. Contradições do Feltro. São Paulo: MAC - USP, 05-30 abril, 1989.26,5 x 35,5 cm.　

KUENZI, A.; BILLETER, E.; KATO, K. L. La Nouvelle Tapisserie. Ed. rev. e ampl. Paris - Lausanne: Biblioteque des Arts, 1981, 3a ed., rev. e ampl,293p., il., algumas color. 26,5 x 35,5 cm, pp. 34-36.　.

VERLET, P.; FLORISOME,M.; HOFFMEISTER, A.; TABARD, F.; LURÇAT, Jean. Le Grand Livre de la Tapisserie. Lausanne; Edita, 1965, pp. 147-150.