An inquisitive creative mind can see the most amazing things in the smallest works of art, even those ones made with materials that purists may dismiss as pertaining to the world of crafts.
Since it launched in 1991 in Como at the Chiostrino di Santa Eufemia the event Miniartextil has been championing relatively small yet very intriguing pieces suspended between art and craft.
When Miniartextil first started, the initial concept behind this exhibition was showing small format works (20 X 20 X 20 cm) mainly by Italian artists who expressed themselves through threads of every description, including copper, silk, iron, light, wool and glass.
As the years passed the event opened to foreign artists as well, turning into an ambitious and avant-garde cultural project.
Dedicated to the theme "Borderline", last year's event, organised by Arte & Arte Como and curated by Luciano Caramel, is currently touring France.
After stopping at Le Beffroi Cultural Centre in Montrouge, Paris, in February, it recently moved to the Chateau du Valfleury in Gif-sur-Yvette (until 25th April).
Comprising 54 mini-textile artworks and large installations as well, the event explores the borderline theme from various points of views: some artists looked at physical borders; others explored the invisible barriers in our minds and hearts, and those impalpable yet dangerous walls that we erect to protect notions, ideas, words, concepts and cultures.
The "maxi textiles" incorporated in the event create a set and setting for it: the infinite structure of "Forest of numbers" by architect Emmanuelle Moureaux delineated and redesigned the exhibition spaces in Como and Montrouge, with its infinite gallery of coloured paper numbers; other large pieces such as "Porcelain Coasts" by Rolands Krutovs or El Anatsui's "Seeds" invited visitors to ponder about migration and about the ingenious use of found materials.
But there is more to discover and explore in the smaller pieces tackling the borderline theme suspending it between reality and fantasy, incorporating steel and polyester, felt, paper or wood and analysing liminality, frontiers and hidden or cocooning spaces. At times the results of such experiments are puzzling or disquieting; in other cases the pieces seem to live in a dimension of their own, somewhere between the abstract and the unidentifiable.
"Interstices" by French knitwear designer Xavier Brisoux in collaboration Isabelle Soum could be considered for example an alien formation, a sort of compact labyrinth of densely knit strata. While it is almost impossible to see where it starts and where it ends, the sculpture marks a new arty development in the career of the designer who has been knitting in the last few years an entirely new language and vocabulary using the semantics of his complex avant-garde stitches.
The theme for next year's Miniartexil - "Humans" - has just been announced: this cry against global indifference invites artists and designers to work around the human/dishuman dichotomy, while exploring themes such as dreams, utopias and future worlds in the hope that we can truly regain our lost humanity.
Want to know more about how to get creative using threads, yarns and textiles? Let yourself be inspired by one of the most successful pieces currently on display at Miniartextil - Brisoux's "Interstices", winner in February of the Mairie de Montrouge award.
Did you enjoy taking part in Miniartextil and what was the best thing about it?
Xavier Brisoux: Taking part in Miniartextil is a new experience for me, as I have only started working on knitwear as a sculpture, and outside of my initial field of action - fashion - quite recently. This was a sort of a test for me to see if the artistic direction I have been taking recently is valid. The best thing about a project like Miniartextil is that you have to work with an inspiration that is given, that is not yours. You then have to think: is there anything I have to say on the matter and how can I convey this through my medium? It’s a way to get out of yourself. So, I enjoyed this very much. Then, when I went to Como, I had the pleasure to see that this event has an important attendance and impact in contemporary textile art. I found many beautiful pieces exhibited - the variety of work is truly impressive.
How did you feel about winning the Mairie de Montrouge award?
Xavier Brisoux: I have to admit that I do not design and create to win awards, but recognition always feels comforting! For a creative person, doubt is part of the design process. So, when you do get acknowledged for your work, for a few hours doubts go away, and you think "I might not be all wrong in the end". Then the day after the doubts are back on! I have to thank Arte&Arte and the Mairie de Montrouge for their support in young blood creation.
Is "Interstices" a logical development or a complementary piece to the one you exhibited at the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle?
Xavier Brisoux: It is both really, as Isabelle Soum (who immerses the knitted pieces into resin) and I have pushed our techniques, but it is also part of our wider project to create a series of coherent sculptures.
In that case the sculpture was to be interpreted as a fossil from the future, how does this new sculpture tackle the theme of the exhibition – "Borders"?
Xavier Brisoux: As I mentioned before, this is a continuity of the work started with the sculpture "Heel Ache" that is exhibited in Calais. We are working with the same ingredients, but towards a message that is pushed further. The idea I work with is the blurring of concepts of past and future. "Interstices" is the first border to be underlined and negated at the same time. This piece is still like a piece of archaeology coming from the future, as if time was read backwards. But this time we have added a different approach to the resin craft. I knit a first sculpture in a cocoon shape, then Isabelle creates a silicone cast out of this first sculpture, in which we will place the resin and another piece of knitwear, the first one being destroyed in the process. So here we play with the aspect of the resin to make it look like a knit piece of crystal or glass. In this case emerges a second border: where is the line between real and illusionary? Where does the knit start and where does the resin start? And of course, we play with the notions of front and back, inside and outside. Visually, it was essential to play with the graphics of lines to be coherent with the theme of this year. Interstices, means the small space that lies in between things. We could maybe translate it in English as the "In-Between", which is what I am obsessed with. I was once asked what inspires my work and I answered - the moment between "chien et loup", which is a typical French expression that cannot really be translated. It is the time of day (only a few minutes, or seconds) when light declines so that you could confuse a dog with a wolf or vice versa. I love that expression because it captures something that is very evanescent and that cannot really be described. It is that moment "in between".
Which are the most challenging aspects of working with yarns and acrylic with Isabelle Soum?
Xavier Brisoux: Working with resin is always a challenge as it is a very scientific process, and to master a recipe is very complicated. It really requires patience and also the acceptance of loss. Sometimes we work on a piece for several days, and, for some unexplained reason (the temperature of the room may have dropped half a degree...), the resin does not work as we want it to, and we have to throw away our piece. I would say that we have to make two to three pieces to obtain what we expect. We are going to explore new fields with a mix of opaque and transparent resins soon. But our main goal right now is to find new solutions to create silicon casts in a more industrial way. At the moment we work in a very artisanal manner. We like it, but we sometimes lack control over the result. We have visited a factory that is willing to help us building the casts, but the cost of the silicone is insane for our budgets. So, we are currently very actively looking for sponsors that will help us making our casts.
Image credits for this post
1 - 11. Miniartextil Installation Views, Como, by Giuseppe Vitali.
12 - 15. Images of "Interstices" by Xavier Brisoux and Isabelle Soum, by Isabelle Soum
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