Off Loom
As part of the national exhibition OFF LOOM (Art off the loom) of contemporary textile art, under the patronage of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Lucanian artist Teri Volini, in collaboration with the artist anTheòs, presented the installation and video projection “The Invisible Real – The Web”, whose “weaving” was created as an ephemeral work of art in September 1999 on the peaks of the Lucanian Little Dolomites, “a metaphor of the deep, though invisible, connection between all creatures and the planet…”.
The event opened on 11 May in Rome, at the former juvenile prison of San Michele a Ripa, and ran until 30 May.
On this occasion the artist combined Fiber Art with Video Art. Room 2.
The terms Fiber Art, Textile Art or Art Fabric cover that vast artistic universe whose favoured expressive medium is thread and whose main technique is weaving.
Their connotations are, one might say, infinite, from which we gather that Fiber Art has a thousand facets and a thousand outcomes.
“Off Loom” specifically indicates artistic production that does not necessarily involve the use of this ancient tool, while suggesting that it nonetheless enters, in various ways, into the dialectic of creativity.
Fiber Art is a “transversal” form of artistic expression that uses thread as its medium (of straw, metal, plastic, wool, string, silk, cotton, glass wool, optical fibres…), using techniques typical of weaving, such as the interlacing of weft and warp, but also printing, embroidery, knotting, collage, the ready-made…
“Transversal” because it draws on suggestions ranging from Futurism to Abstraction, with references both to Geometric Abstraction and to Abstraction tout court, up to Art Informel. Some works can also be described as Arte Povera, in their synthesis of signs and search for archetypes, or as Conceptual.
Some can be traced back to Pop themes, especially in their use of variously emphasised mass-produced industrial materials.
Other artists combine Fiber Art with Video Art.
In this first major national survey of Fiber Art, the artists are grouped in three sections. The first, “the historic masters”, includes artists who have been active in the field for many years and were its pioneers; the second gathers artists with numerous exhibitions in the field, known internationally too. The third is an open space for new talent.
Video projection and installation: Teri Volini – Compression of the Red Ribbon in the cell; anTheòs – Weaving the Ribbon on the bars as a loom
Earth Art – Soft Art. Co-authors: the sun and the pines of Villa Borghese – photo by anTheòs. Rome, May 2000
Body Art – Land Art: Homage to Mother Earth. The spires of Castelmezzano, September 1999
Photos by anTheòs
