Interlace
Samantha Bittman is known for creating consuming experiences. Born in Chicago and now working in Brooklyn, Bittman takes details from the textile industry and uses them to reveal visual phenomena. Playing with shapes, symmetrical layouts, and a pared-down palettes, her latest installation comes in the form of Interlace: a site-specific, immersive work created for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
On display as part of the museum’s project 1st Site, located in the reception area of their Columbus Circle location, Interlace is a large-scale vinyl mural that wraps the entry-level elevator bank in a colourful, oversized weaving draft. Weavers visiting the exhibition might recognise this bold design, as it is based on the pattern weavers follow to work out their designs.
For this piece, Bittman uses a particular weaving draft that represents a ‘sample blanket’; a textile that uses different warp and weft combinations in small sections in order to experiment with weave structures, yarn and colour. Printed at this scale, the pattern is easily identifiable as a tool specific to textile work, while resembling pixels associated with the digital – a reference that features regularly in the artist’s practice. Taking influence from Anni Albers, Bittman creates an new world of warp and weft.
Samantha Bittman: Interlace, until 9 September 2018
The Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019
1 comment
This looks amazing both online and in person! I had the pleasure of seeing this at MAD last week, fabulous.