Walking a Viaduct

On Friday I took an opportunity to walk the Detroit -Superior Bridge Viaduct in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Closed to the public, it was a private walk for invited artists to discuss art and theatre installations for Ingenuity Fest Cleveland this September.

I missed the deadline to apply for a spot, but there's always next year. 

I am inspired by this place.

See for yourself.

The red arrows indicate the Viaduct 

(under the main bridge).

Construction of the bridge began in 1914 and was completed the year my mother was born in 1918.

this image is from The Cleveland Memory Project circa 1978

My pics

Looking through the floor you can see the Cuyahoga River

Subway tiles and columns remain

Parts of the old brick floor and trolly rails remain

Sorry for this blurry pic, it shows stairs that have been blocked off with a fence (see it in the shadow). There is a natural spring beneath this section of the bridge and this stairwell was filled with water. 

I'd love to dye cloth using that mineral-rich water.

I'd like to take bits and pieces of detritus from the floor of the Viaduct and use them to make marks on fabric. The fabric would be suspended in the art installation area.

A Story of Two Blues

Inspiration from 

India Flint's book, Eco-Colour

I finished reading the book this morning and decided to use these wonderful plants as the start of my eco-dye investigations.

I have two Iris Japonica plants growing along side my house. 

Initially received as tubers as a gift years ago from my sister, Marianne.

One is bluer than the other.

I collected some spent flowers and some quite in bloom.

My dear 91 year old mother, Bertha, deconstructed some old silk shirts I picked up at the 2nd-hand store. (washed)

Keeping the 2 Blues separated, we spread some of the brilliant blues onto damped silk.

and wrapped them into bundles.

 and placed them into 2 separate jars with the remaining blue bits to swish around in the water.

and covered with plastic.

To cook in the sun for the next several weeks.

Stay tuned for a blue hue unveiling.

P.s.

Bertha says, "We waste a lot of time and don't realize it".

I say...

Make some color with time.

Art Installation Part Two

Christine Mauersberger

Temporary Art Installation

Cleveland Heights Library

Cleveland Hts, Ohio USA

I pinned organza and tulle to the wall adjacent my other piece Wall Fall

Welcome Universe Dreaming

You can see a horizontal cork-covered bracket on the wall, I just worked the space as if it weren't there.

Pinning the fabric to the wall took several hours.

Cutting the fabric and printing spirograph images took much longer. 

Many a laborious hour was spent determining how to print and how to cut the shear fabrics.

I did all that work in 2007, when I was contemplating how to make transparency and layering effects in 3 dimensions.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial on how to make and cut perfect circles 

I can be coaxed to show a step-by-step.

Just wonder what bait you'd offer me!

Enjoy!

Wall Fall

IN my post the other day, I said I was hijacked and going with the flow.

Artist Nami Yamamoto gave a lecture hosted by the Textile Art Alliance at the Cleveland Museum of Art  on Wednesday evening, after which I was asked to attend a workshop beginning the very next 2 days on the site of the Cleveland Heights Library.

I said yes.

I thought that we were going to work together on ONE piece. 

I couldn't imagine that each participant could possibly make an artwork installation within 2 days with absolutely no prior planning.

On Thursday morning, Nami showed us examples of installation artworks by various artists and gave us a super-quick run-down on how to make a 4-way repeat pattern.

We each created a repeat pattern and it helped to free my brain up for what was to come.

By noon, I was ready.

I took a walk outside around the Library building and picked up 2 things

Some large seed pods

and

the leaves of the 'Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’ growing through a fence in the parking lot.

Nami said I picked these things up for a reason, so just go with it.

I made a quick sketch of how I visualized what shape I would use as a repeat pattern and how the installation might look.

I found a bolt of fabric in the collection of odds and ends we had access to.

One person brought a huge roll of fabric that had been coated with some type of stiffener.

The bolt of material came from the old Carnegie Textile Mill in Cleveland when they offered all their mill-ends to artists through Zerolandfill rather than to add it to the dump.

The fabric is 37" wide.

I used 3 separate strips, each 13 feet long and began to make cuts using a craft knife.

Here, I've started to make cuts in the fabric.

This is what it looked like on the table. Look at all those lovely curls! I installed the pieces in a room adjacent to the computers that the library allows patrons to use for free. 

A picture in the space I was given to install my work.

Love how the back side evokes the Stella D'oro leaves

And the lovely shadows

Some children came into the room and said, look mom! Water!

The title of this piece is Wall Fall

Size: 111" wide 12' long

This piece will be up for the next 6 weeks. 

Yeah!

I'll post pictures of the other works created later this week.

OH...I made a second piece from tulle and organza and completed it late Friday evening - Sat. morning.

Here is a sneek peak.

More later

ta ta

Nami Yamamoto

Nami Yamamoto
Philadelphia, PA USA
born, Japan

Miniature Garden (detail)

2007

cut-out paper, display cases

Miniature Garden

2007

cut-out paper, display cases

installation view at Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, USA

This installation is composed by eight display cases. 

Primordial Soup no.11 (detail)

2005

colored foam, Acrylic on foam, vinyl, Acrylic and pins

48"(h) x 132"(w) x 33.5"(d)

Primordial Soup no.11

2005

colored foam, Acrylic on foam, vinyl, Acrylic and pins

48"(h) x 132"(w) x 33.5"(d)

installation view at Terminal E, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Like most artists (or is it ALL artists) Nami collects things. Bits and pieces of ephemera that relate to the way she thinks about life.

She has terrific engineering skills and is a quick study of pattern since she worked for 5 years at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA. — a special place that allowed her to work in new materials and to print their 25 yard long fabric printing tables. See below.

In 2009, she received a PEW grant and is now working as a full time artist. 

I attended a 2-day workshop with her this week in Cleveland, Ohio- more on that later.

Please visit her website to see more here

Hijacked and Going with the Flow

I've been hijacked this week. 
Little did I know on Monday that I'd be taking a 2-day workshop 
with Nami Yamamoto today and tomorrow.
I will post more about her later.
Until then.
have a peak

Radiant Flux (detail)

2008

handmade paper: abaca with phosphorescent powder

77"(w) x 59" (d) x 59" (h)

Radiant Flux (detail)

2008

handmade paper: Abaca with phosphorescent powder

77"(w) x 59" (d) x 59" (h)

Radiant Flux

2009

handmade paper: Abaca with Phosphorescent powder

98"(w) x 51"(d) x 12"(h)

This image shows how “Radiant Flux” looks when room lights are on. 

In this stage, the paper leaves are charging light energy.

All photos courtesy © Nami Yamamoto