Smart Textiles in Fiber Art

Photo: Source not named

If you read the book, Dune, you might remember how they had clothing that would transform all of the body's excretions into drinkable water.  I read the book in high school (decades ago!) and can still feel how both disgusted and fascinated I was by the idea.  Recently, I heard a pundit on a TV show talk about how close we are to making the invisible cloak.  It seems like part of the world really is heading towards the Jetson's future, while the rest of it remains in the 1800's.  

"Smart" fabrics and textiles are engineered to perform specific tasks: release perfume, send electronic messages, control sweat, heat, and so on.  These are engineered in high tech labs as seen in the video below:

Smart textiles have made their way into both the fashion and fiber art worlds.  Suzanne Tick designs specialty textiles for industrial purposes.   She also incorporates fiber optics into her fiber art:

Fiber Art using fiber optics by Suzanne Tick

Degree programs in the textile arts now offer curriculum that embraces the exploration of how smart fabrics can be used both to enhance the quality of life in specific fields and how they can push their way into new, unexplored interactive art.

Fascinating?  Absolutely!  Scary?  Absolutely.

The gap between those who have access to technology and those who don't has already divided our world in immeasurable ways.  We also hear reports of how our electronic overload might be sickening our planet.  What about recycling these smart textiles?  Already, we cannot handle the waste generated by our garment and textile industries created by the "dumb" textiles. Where will the outdated "smart" ones end up?

As with so many advances in technology, I have mixed feelings.  I like to know where things come from, how they were grown, who made them.  But, I make my livelihood using a computer, a part of an industry that has created serious e-waste.  Contradictions abound in my life.

What do you think?  Are you excited about "smart" textiles?  What pros and cons do you see?


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Smart Textiles in Fiber Art

Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

TAFA member, Whitney Taylor, (Little Mango Imports)

works with Mayan weavers in Guatemala.

Whitney with Sovesteña in Panajachel

Maria lives in a village in Guatemala.  She weaves brightly colored fabrics which will make their way to the American and European markets.  She also works on traditional huipiles, the blouses worn by women in her village, when she has time.  Maria has been to the capital a couple of times and visits relatives in nearby towns, but mostly stays in her village and likes it that way.  She knows how to read and write, has four small children, loves to laugh, and dreams of having a new fence built around her garden so the chickens will stay out of it.

Claudette also weaves.  Her work often depicts contrasts between light and dark, using urban themes that reflect her life in Paris.  She zooms in on a car's headlight, a hand on a door, high heels on the sidewalk...  sometimes there might be splashes of red, alluding to blood or violence.  Her work is not "pretty" and it will take that special collector who will want to buy it.  Claudette has exhibited internationally and traveled around the world .  She has no children, sometimes she drinks too much, and she definitely wishes she could stop thinking all the time.

 "Big Green Barn" by TAFA member Laura Foster Nicholson

Maria and Claudette are fictional, just made up characters in my mind, but symbolic of the range of women represented by TAFA's membership.  TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List is a project I started earlier this year.   Launched in February, the membership has grown to 115 working artists and fiber related businesses.  TAFA's main mission, to provide its members with access to larger markets, has at its core an intentional agenda of bringing Maria and Claudette together, sharing the same platform and audience.  These two women have little in common aside from the materials they use to execute their craft.  Their personal interests, how they spend their time, and the goals they have for their lives reflect not only the physical distance that separates them, but the cultural expectations their peers have of them.  They do, however, share a form of sign language.  If they stood side by side with their looms, they could speak to each other and learn from each other through their threads, the movements of their hands, and the final products.  A language only weavers would understand.

Both also share in the need for a market that will support their work.  Maria might be represented by someone like Whitney Taylor (first photo), or by TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles who work with weavers in Laos and Thailand.

Traditionally, the two weavers, Maria and Claudette, and those who represent them, would have looked for their markets in very different places.  Maria does not have computer skills nor access to galleries.  Her weaving would be described as a craft and would not qualify for most competitions.  Claudette would have to put a portfolio together, have professional photos taken and either look for high end customers on her own or have a gallery represent her in doing so.  Their markets and the words used to define who they are and what they do have been as separate as their physical worlds.

 "Koch Snowflake Fractal"  
Univeral Language Series 

by TAFA member Donna Loraine Contractor 

I've worked with handmade crafts from around the world for over twenty years.  Even now, I struggle with what words to use when I describe a product.  Is it art? Craft?  Handicraft?  Folk Art?  Traditional? Contemporary?  We are struggling with these terms on TAFA as well.  The middle column has a list of labels titled "Themes and Places".  Intended as an index, key words describe the mix found in TAFA's membership.  We decided to use  "Member Made" as a way to describe a member who makes their own work.  "Cultural Textile" describes members who are representing a group.  The challenge lies in keeping the list short enough to make it usable for those who visit the site and yet inclusive enough to cover the different kinds of work represented on TAFA.

Even worse: how do we describe Maria and Claudette?  Is Maria an artist? Fair traders often refer to people like her as "producers".  Claudette would certainly have a fit if she were labeled a crafter.  The divide that has separated these two has historically come from an ethnocentric position that, I believe, is fundamentally racist, classist, and must change.  Maria might actually have better technical skills than Claudette.  What makes her work less valid in the art world?  One might argue that she lacks imagination in design, that she is simply replicating work that has been done for centuries in her village.  Yet, many contemporary weavers are not weaving powerful, moody work like Claudette's.  They are interested in the materials, patterns, look of the weave itself.  TAFA member Laos Essential Artistry has an interesting video which tries to address this tension between the artist, creativity, and the relationship to the product itself.  In my mind, we stumble in trying to perpetuate this divide:

Why racist and classist? Because if the same work were made by an American, a Parisian, or an Australian, it would be called art and, a key point here, the price would also reflect it.  I believe that we have been passive about giving credit where it is due.  We believe that it's OK for the Marias of the world to live on minimal income generated by their skill while those of us who live in the "developed" world can charge what we consider a fair wage for our work.  Sure, there are many issues that affect the price point of a weaving or textile:  materials used, intricacy of detail, age, the currency exchange rate, creativity, fame, and so on.  But, the same debate that has raged on in the quilting arena also rages here.  Quilters debate what is art or craft all the time.  So, now we have "art quilts" which have their own shows and juried criteria, separate from "traditional quilts".  And, again, definition often makes a big difference in price point.  An Amish quilt may sell for several hundred dollars while an art quilt with the same skill level may enter the market for several thousand dollars.  It's a matter of how we perceive and define our selves, our work and those around us.  But, when it comes to Maria, I believe that most of us think it's OK for her to earn less because she is a peasant, lives in a hut, doesn't have much education and should just be grateful that we are helping her by buying her "stuff".



Fortunately, things are changing for Maria and other like her.  Several global trends in these last twenty years have decreased the supply of cultural crafts.  Industrialization, war, natural disasters and migration have all affected the production of traditional arts world wide.  It used to be easy to get gorgeous, intricate embroideries from any of these villages for almost nothing.  Travelers who became small importers brought these goods to market and appreciation for them grew.  Now it's hard to find the older stuff and we have to pay more for current work.  Less people are also making the traditional work, opting instead to work in factories or as maids or in the hospitality industry for secure pay and possible benefits.  War and natural disaster have disrupted village life around the world.  As less of the vintage textiles have become available, more efforts and recognition has been given to those who have the ability to perpetuate these age-old skills.  We also see more exchanges happening between the Marias and Claudettes, increasing market receptivity by developing products that use the skills, appeal to elite markets and generate a higher ticket price.  Escama Studio in Brazil is one such example.  Low income women crochet clothing and accessories out of pop tabs:

Women like Maria are traveling more, seeing how a Claudette would interact with their work. Novica carries their purses, selling them for a couple hundred dollars each, accompanied with a photo, bio and quote by the artist.  The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market sponsors traditional crafters from around the world every year.  They are called "artists" on their website and literature.  HandEye Magazine offers a glorious exploration of materials, techniques, and overwhelming eye candy from around the world.  They make no distinction between traditional and contemporary.  It's all crazy and all good.  FiberArts Magazine always has a section dedicated to traditional cultural crafts, although their focus is on contemporary textile art and craft.  The trend moves towards inclusion and recognition.  We need this to happen in order to both preserve the knowledge the Marias have and to encourage the vision a Claudette might bring to the medium.  We still have a long way to go, but all of us can help redefine what the platform is that we share with each other.  It starts with exposure, by standing next to each other, and continues with the dialogue that is in our hands, that sign language that we can speak through our craft.  Finally, it matures when all of us can make a decent living through our work, have our basic needs met, and know that life as a working artist can happen here, in Paris or in a village in Guatemala.

 Alia Kate with Fatima

TAFA member, Kantara Crafts, 

works with weavers in Morocco.

Interested in becoming a TAFA member?  TAFA members all have an established web presence.  They are working artists, textile or fiber related businesses, authors, collectors, or gallery owners.  For more information, check out the Membership page on our site.

Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

Doggie Love, a new Rayela Art dogfood paper bag

"Doggie Love" a candywrapper bag made with 
dogfood bags, by Rayela Art.

 This is the third bag or purse I have made upcycling with dogfood bags.  Until recently, I had four dogs, so I have plenty of these bags stored up, ready to transform into "art" (or craft or whatever...).  My love for these dogs has brought a lot of pain recently as one of them bit a utility man (who came into my yard without my permission...) and another has been diagnosed with lymphoma.  

Sheba bit the water man and then she bit the dust.

Sheba lost her life because of that bite and now lies planted under a little tree in my yard.  It's a horrible thing to put a healthy dog down!  She was six and had never bit anyone before.  But, she did have a kill instinct and had attacked two smaller dogs in the past and killed a cat.  99% of the time, she was a great little dog, smart, full of tricks, willing to please, and a funny girl with her own special antics.

Sheba was born in my apartment in Chicago.

Now there is Mitchie, my oldest, who was the gallery dog in Chicago.  Supposedly a boxer/lab mix according to the shelter he came from, we have had ten great years together.

Mitchie as an old dude in Kentucky.

Younger days at Dara Tribal Village.

Mitchie made the Sun Times in Chicago.  

He had a huge following of people 

who would stop in to see him.

These dogs, Sheba, Mitchie, along with Laila and Juba, are spoiled, well loved, and have been through a lot with me over the years.  Yes, I know they are "just" dogs, but, in my world they have a lot more empathy, humor and consideration than many of the people I see around me.  They give me affection and protection in an "iffy" neighborhood.  I'm sorry that the water man got bit.  Fortunately, I have renter's insurance and he will get a nice settlement from them.  But, that doesn't seem to be enough as he drags me through court, making an awful situation even worse.

 "Doggie Love", side view.

I finished "Doggie Love" shortly before the pain started with Sheba and Mitchie, so it is tied in my mind to this difficult time.  This technique is widely known as the "candywrapper technique".  It involves cutting small rectangles of paper and folding them then interlocking them together into long lines.  Those are then sewn to each other.

 "Doggy Love" detail, by Rayela Art.

 I like to incorporate beads and findings into these bags, altering the surface and adding texture.  So far, I am the only one that I know of who does this to these bags.  On this one, I used African coconut discs, Ethiopian copper and soapstone beads.

 

This was the first project where I also incorporated fabric.  I wanted the piece to stand upright, like a vessel, so I made a fabric bottom for it.  Normally, the sides are sewn to each other at the bottom into a traditional purse shape.  There are many other ideas I want to play with to take this technique to new levels.  The folding is time consuming, but a perfect activity when I don't want to think.  I can sit and watch a movie and fold away.  You wouldn't believe how much paper a vessel like this takes!  There are probably eight or nine large dog food bags folded up into this piece, paper that would have otherwise ended up in a land fill.

Yes, my heart is heavy with the loss of my two dogs.  But, Juba and Laila will still be with me, so I will have many more bags to use up in the future!  By the way, Laila is Juba and Sheba's mom.  I found her all torn up in Chicago, pregnant.  

Juba and Laila, daughter and mother.  (??!!!???)

National Geographic had a great article, a couple of years ago, where they examined the relationship between dogs and humans.  Because we have lived so closely together for thousands of years, we have developed a symbiotic relationship.  Dogs will look ahead to where you are pointing, while wolves don't get it.  They just stare at the finger.  If you pet a dog, it lowers both your blood pressure and theirs!  Most dogs can learn 150 words.  Smart ones can learn 300.  I will always have dogs in my life.  But, I don't think I will go for four again.  One thing I learned was that it is really hard to control a pack, especially in an urban environment.  I miss Sheba, still counting out four treats, and I know I will cry when the time comes to say good-bye to Mitchie.  They definitely do not live long enough!  I am grateful for the time we have had, for the inspiration they give me, and for all the good memories I have of them.

Bye-bye, Mitchie and Sheba!

Click here for more posts on the other bags I have made and for information on the candywrapper weaving technique. 

Oh!  You want "Doggie Love"?  It's yours for $360.  20% off if you buy it before I list it on Etsy...

 Mitchie, Juba, Laila, Sheba and me...

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Doggie Love, a new Rayela Art dogfood paper bag

Tire Art: A Case for Recycling Garbage, The Artist's Raw Materials

Ji Yong Ho, Gana Art Gallery, Tire Art

A friend of mine sent me an email with images of these gorgeous sculptures made our of recycled tires.  I had to learn more about them, so I dug around a bit and found that they were made by Ji Yong Ho, a young Korean artist concerned about how we are genetically altering nature and controlling our wild environments.  He calls his sculptures "mutants" and seeks to create both frightening and sensitive creatures.  Theme Magazine has a nice article about him with more on how he relates to his work:

"Ho’s concept of mutants grew out of his life in Seoul, where there is fierce political debate over genetic engineering. In school, Yong Ho read Darwin and was galvanized by how his theory of evolution applied to man’s manipulation with nature. Already, he says, cats and dogs are bred to emphasize their domesticated traits and downplay their wild sides. The sculptures can be taken as warnings; if we’re not careful, we may soon lose the ability to see animals in their natural state altogether."    Theme Magazine   (Photo by Flora Hanitijio)

Ji Yong Ho, Gana Art Gallery, Tire Art 

 

I have seen objects made our of recycled tires before.  The most common are the soles used for sandals, found all over South America.  When I lived in Chicago, I met a woman who was working with a project that made sling chairs out of them.  I don't remember the name of her project, but Livbit has an affordable and attractive set that it reviewed:

Recycled Tire Furniture, Livbit

I remember asking this woman if the tires would give off any residue, turning your clothes or skin black.  She said that it would not.

Ji Yong Ho, Gana Art Gallery, Tire Art

Ji Yong Ho's work is especially interesting because of the elegance and vibrancy he gives his creatures.  He tried working with other mediums but found rubber to be the most life-like.  I wondered how the pieces are attached and from the photos, it looks like they are riveted or screwed.  Gary Pierre-Charles, a Haitian architect, also has chosen to use tires as his medium.  I have seen information on how to use tires as wall insulation in green building, but Pierre-Charles uses them everywhere.  Normally, green builders hide the tires while this artist emphasizes and makes use of them as a design element.  They are in walls, gardens, windows and landscaping.  The video also shows how he cuts and assembles the tires.  In Creole, the footage is especially poignant after the recent Haitian earthquake.  The YouTube page has an excellent text describing the content:

We are in a race to deplete our natural resources like never before in history.  Artists in developing countries have long used garbage as a material, mostly because they don't have the funds to purchase new materials.  Yet, what excellent role models they have become to all of us, regardless of what have been our preferred mediums.  Bottles can be fired and melted, discarded metals cut and re-shaped, and for the fiber artist, there are endless supplies of junked paper and cloth.  Look around you!  What can you salvage?  Use your garbage as your raw materials.  I understand the draw of new materials.  I worked at a fabric store for several months and could not resist the discount table of end fabric.  My check would inevitably go towards remnants.  Until then, I had found all my fabric at thrift stores.  Now I have a good stash of both and once the temptation was removed, I find that I still prefer the worn and faded look of the used fabrics in my stash.

Ji Yong Ho, Gana Art Gallery, Tire Art 

Tires are huge.  They quickly fill up landfills.   Artists like Ji Yong Ho and Gary Pierre-Charles do us a great service by inspiring others to re-use and re-purpose objects that no longer have their original function.  Kudos to them! 

Ji Yong Ho, Gana Art Gallery, Tire Art

How about you?  Do you use garbage as a raw material?  Leave a comment to inspire others on how our waste can be made into something new and beautiful!

Tire Art: A Case for Recycling Garbage, The Artist's Raw Materials

Summer Art Project at The Williamson Art Gallery: Rag Rugging

Rag Rugging Project at The Williamson Art Gallery

by Alison Bailey Smith

The aim for the project was to produce a wall hanging for Wirral Methodist Housing using donated clothing with several tenants from the organization contributing to the creation of the piece. I decided that as the funding was coming from a housing association that a house would be a great communal theme to work on. At the same time as working on this project, I was also teaching a project with kids from 8 to 15 creating a Time Machine based on H.G. Wells' Time Machine.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

We have used a hessian backing and two different rag rugging techniques to create bricks to combine together into a house. I learned the rag rugging technique in the week before from the internet, from books , from advice from an old college friend and my second in-command fellow Oxton Artist, Janine Suggett, (we exhibit once a year in the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, North West of England). The idea of having individual bricks was to allow the women to work at their own speed, take the work away from the workshops to work on at home or to use a different technique, it also allowed the ladies to work without straining their backs or eyes. Many of these ladies remembered making rugs with rags after the war. Most of the ladies have picked up the technique easily, some had previously created rag rugs in slightly different methods and seem to enjoy the opportunity to do it again. Some with arthritis found it hard to keep it up for awhile, so tea offered a welcome break.

Assembling Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

I think the main benefits of the workshops were being able to sit together as a group talking and working on a collective project, providing health benefits - both mental and physical. Many of them have re-arranged plans to be there, as well as taking work away to be completed at home, contributing extra “bricks” in knitting and rag rugging.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

The concept of the house for the hanging was already vaguely in place prior to them arriving, it developed as we have discussed it to in-corporate other techniques than rag rugging, slightly faster techniques done at home. We also incorporated some of the donated clothing as appliqué (flowers from the wedding dress, some fabric as curtains), I later incorporated images of the ladies working on the piece into the wall hanging. During the workshop, one of the participants donated a fabric tape measure. I used it along with a tape measure from my Granny's things to edge a primed canvas that we put behind the door and all the participants later signed it. It was wonderful to combine everyone's memories from the clothes - political t-shirts, ties from weddings, hats from holidays, fabric from first homes etc.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

The group created everything we needed for the hanging to come together during the workshops but it took 3 more days of work to create it into the wall hanging. There were many components that needed to be attached to the backing and needed some creative thinking to get it to all work together, next time I would limit the colour palette available . The extra work was done at my house with lots of help from Janine Suggett, Cathy Warren, Sylvia Davie and Briget. Using many of my own resources at home, thread, fabric, printable canvas, sewing machine etc. Perhaps next time we could do it over 2 weeks, one to create the parts and the second to pull it together. As well as feeling very moved by all the ladies and their enthuisiasm, I also was very touched by being able to use many of my Granny's sewing things. She died in March and I asked my Dad if I could have her fabric and sewing things, she made many of her own clothes as many women did of her generation and took real care in looking after every scrap of fabric. I hope she would be proud of our project.

Alison Bailey Smith

Her work has spanned almost 2 decades and three different countries since leaving Edinburgh College of Art in 1990. The motivation behind Alison’s work comes from being the child of post war parents, Scottish thriftiness and an avid watcher of Blue Peter! Her need to re-use, re-develop and re-create can be seen in her wide use of ordinary materials with extra-ordinary results.

Although her training was initially in Jewellery and silver-smithing, she has crossed over successfully into the world of textiles, costume and fashion – evident in her numerous awards (Scottish Fashion Designer of the Year, Recycling Fashion Designer of the Year and various awards for Fibre in North America and Australasia).

Alison’s staple ingredient in her work is wire that she reclaims from old televisions, the older the better. She has found over a hundred different colours and hues of copper and aluminium wire. Lately though, due to the rate of development in technology, she is finding it harder to find the old television sets and has had to resort to buying various colours of wire! There is always a high component of re-used materials in her work - whether it is re-using charity shop finds or sweetie wrappers to get the right colour. She has become increasingly aware of how wasteful our society is becoming and has started working with plastic packaging with a range of "Junk Jewellery".

Visit Alison's website, blog, and her great collection of photos on Flickr!

Wire Hat by Alison Bailey Smith

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Summer Art Project at The Williamson Art Gallery: Rag Rugging

Sidney's Ties, A Weaving of Memories

"Sidney's Ties", detail, by Rayela Art, 2009

It really helps to explore the boundaries of one's potential artistically when there is a patron in sight. In my case, Joyce Levy has been that benefactor. Formerly a board member of the now defunct Textile Arts Center of Chicago, Joyce's love of art and textiles has given her the pleasure of supporting an unknown like myself with fairly large projects. Projects that I would not have been able to explore without the financial backing. I started quilting in the early 90's and even with limited skills, she commissioned four quilts in memory of her brother Bruce. The quilts were made from Bruce's t-shirts and went to his wife, parents, best friend and Joyce. You can see those quilts and learn more about their story in my former post.

Rachel Biel Taibi (Rayela Art) with patron, Joyce Levy.

Joyce, a brilliant lawyer, comes from a family of talent and enthusiasm for life. Her mother, recently deceased due to a medical error, was a psychologist and an avid collector of folk art from around the world, including a large collection of Native American silver work. Bruce, a cancer victim, was a mathematician, a minimalist, but gifted with words. The patriarch of the family, Sidney Levy, is recognized around the world for his work in marketing and behavioral management. Sidney is now on my short list of patrons. He commissioned me to make something interesting out of the ties he had worn for the last 40 years. Thus, "Sidney's Ties" came into existence.

"Sidney's Ties", A Woven Quilt
Hand-stitched, 37" wide x 61" long

"Sidney's Ties", back

"Sidney's Ties", closer views, top and bottom

After Bobette passed away, Sidney went through a purging phase and moved to a smaller place. At 88 years of age, he no longer wears his ties. What to do with them? So many memories tied up into them... Ties worn to work, ties purchased at favorite stores, ties received as gifts, ties that went overseas... These pieces of silk represent a lifetime of woven history, thus weaving them together make an added statement of all the memories that tie us together.

Sidney Levy, patriarch of creatives.

I have not had the honor of meeting Sidney in person, although I have had the pleasure of speaking to him on the phone and via email. I was tickled to find a video of him on the web, an interview posted by "Life in Perpetual Beta":


Find more videos like this on Life in Perpetual Beta

The project started with a visit from Joyce to visit Sidney in Arizona. They spread the ties out on the bed, over the quilt I had made in Bruce's memory. "Surely something can be made of this!"

Ties laid out for "Sidney's Ties".

My initial mock-up was quite different from the final piece. Some people plan everything out before they dig in. I don't. I work from an intuitive level, changing things as I go. This can be difficult in a commission as the future owner of the piece has to be as free spirited as I am. When I asked Sidney what the budget was, he said, "Go until it is finished." A mandate like that can only come from someone who understands and has experienced the creative process.

"Sidney's Ties", mocked up.

I like texture and have been exploring how to make my textiles more dimensional. I had seen a demonstration of rushing at the quilt show and thought that would work for framing the photos. I had to gut the ties to make them pliable enough for gathering. This was also the first time I had worked with fabric transfers. I used the pre-treated fabric sheets that Caryl Bryer Fallert sells at her shop. I stuffed each photo and quilted around the body outlines. These ties were the special ones. Joyce had written little notes attached to them and I wanted to incorporate her words, but ended up not figuring out how to do that in a way that worked for me.

Joyce and Bruce as children, "Sidney's Ties"

Young Sidney, "Sidney's Ties"

Bobette at 23, "Sidney's Ties"

Sidney, who wore all these ties...

I used buttons, glass Czech beads and fresh water pearls to lighten and highlight the central figures. They glow when they are under a spotlight. You will notice that the piece is not straight. I don't like straight lines. Maybe I can't even do them, but I know that the ethnic textiles that I so love are often uneven, crooked, worn and all of that tells me a story. So, "Sidney's Ties" is also crooked. Life is beautiful, full of wonderful memories, but Sidney and his family have also had their share of grief, of the pain that can make any straight back crooked. So, this tribute to a life well-lived hopefully captures some of the dualism that propels each of us from youth into maturity, from life to death, and from need to abundance. I thank you, Sidney and Joyce, for the great pleasure this project has given me!

"Sidney's Ties", back detail.

See Sidney's bios at the University of Arizona and at NorthWestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

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Sidney's Ties, A Weaving of Memories

Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.

Don't Shoot, By Miles Tebbutt

There is a house across the street that is full of people. It's a problem house. Dogs run around without a leash, scaring the postal worker and kids walking by, fights break out between the tenants and other neighbors, and there is just a sense of chaos around that place. Last night it escalated into real violence, ending up with the death of one of them. My relationship with them has centered on frustration around their lack of dog control as they cross the street and provoke mine, who are fenced, into a frenzy.

At 4AM last night, a loud bang woke me up and my dogs went out of control with their barking. The noise sounded about the same as when the electrical terminals exploded during the Ice Storm we had in February, so I thought another one had shorted out. When I opened the door, I found that there was a firetruck, ambulance and around ten cop cars out front. There was a lot of action on the front porch on that house across the street. I watched for about an hour, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. There was a lot of screaming and crying. I saw the medics go to the back of the house and come back with a body on a stretcher. I finally went back to bed and had nightmares for the rest of the night.

In the morning, the cops were still there. One of the tenants crossed the street and told me what had happened. Some girlfriend of some guy who didn't live there was at the house, the boyfriend came and when one of the guys opened the door to him, he was shot in the chest with a shotgun. Dead. Gone. I kept having images in my head of him playing with his dog, joking around. He was very sweet in his own way.

Canadian Poster Campaign for Gun Control

I moved to Kentucky four years ago from Chicago. Big city to small town, USA. Lots of differences, but all of the same social problems, although there is less organized gang violence here. Still, there is plenty of good and bad in both places. I was in the heart of the inner city in Chicago and had seen my share of bad stuff. I was at a pastor's house once and we ducked as a bullet came in through the kitchen window. I saw a teenager walking around with an ouzi. My apartment was broken into twice and once I nabbed the burglar. He slipped out of my grasp and jumped out of the window and ran, duh, TOWARDS the police station a block away. They caught him with my camera and boombox in hand. When I first moved to Chicago in 1984, I made a decision that I would not live in fear. I would try not to be stupid, but I knew that I was not the probable target and that if I were sensible, I'd probably be OK. Same thing here.

But, when I first arrived in Paducah, I had a part-time job at Hancock's of Paducah, one of the largest suppliers of specialty quilt fabrics in the world. As I cut fabric, I enjoyed the stories told by the sweet women who worked there. Repeatedly, they warned me that if someone broke into my house, I was to make sure to kill, not injure. Apparently, a thief can sue you if they come on to your property and your dog bites them. Later, I kenneled my dogs when I went out of town with this tiny, little, blond woman who had a bunch of horses, labs, and birds. When I picked them up, I told them that I was going to take the dogs to a forest preserve, Land Between the Lakes, so they could go swimming. She said she never goes there without her gun, but I should be OK with four dogs to protect me. It's a very strange thing to move from a place where the criminals have guns to another one where the citizens also subscribe to being armed. Feels like what my friend Abdul describes in Afghanistan, where everyone has rifles hanging from their kitchen ceilings.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

Like most things in my life, I have contradictory feelings about all of this. I have no interest in owning a gun, I know that I would never defend myself that way, and I believe that the argument for owning these weapons are flawed and unconvincing. We live in a violent society which has violence on a pedestal. I'm part of it, too. I love well-done war movies, I listen to murder mysteries all the time, and I understand the need people have to feel like they need protection. Without my dogs, I would feel terribly vulnerable here. Yet, anyone with a gun could come in and shoot us all down in a few seconds. It's all a very sad and hopeless state of affairs. Friends report on the escalation of violence in large cities in South America where homes are now protected with high walls and topped off with electrical fences. They say it feels like one is a prisoner in their own home. I really don't see how we can change all of this except to choose peace and conflict resolution in our own small circles and hope that it will become contagious. I know that the law of the land here will never support gun control as it is in other industrialized nations, so I just have to hope that when a bullet comes my way, I can duck fast enough... By the way, the cops here in Paducah are really great. I have seen them deal with several crises and they are always calm, cool, collected and they get their job done. They caught the suspect!

Shotgun Chair by Alex Reh of Texas

The following facts are from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence:

FACT: In 2006, there were 30,896 gun deaths in the U.S: 12,791 homicides (41% of total deaths), 16,883 suicides (55% of total deaths), 642 unintentional shootings (2% of total deaths), 360 from legal intervention (1.2% of total deaths) and 220 from undetermined intent (.8% of total deaths).

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009.)

"Standard Issue Smith & Wesson," by Stephanie Syjuco

FACT: Suicide is still the leading cause of firearm death in the U.S., representing 54.6% of total 2006 gun deaths nationwide. In 2006, the U.S. firearm suicide total was 16,883, a decrease from 2005 total of 17,002 gun suicides. Total gun suicides in Illinois for 2006 were 372, a decrease of 12% from the 2005 number 424. Over half of suicides in the U.S. are committed with firearms.

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009; and the American Association of Suicidology.)

FACT: While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

(A Kellerman, et al. Journal of Trauma, August 1998; Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. “The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries.” Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)

pistol own skin 2004 by Joanneke Meester, Netherlands

FACT: 59% of students in grades six through twelve know where to get a gun if they want one, and two thirds of these students say they can acquire a firearm within 24 hours. (Harvard School of Public Health.)

FACT: As of 1994, 44 million Americans owned more than 192 million firearms, 65 million of which were handguns. Although there were enough guns to have provided every U.S. adult with one, only 25% of adults owned firearms. Seventy-four percent (74%) of gun owners possessed two or more firearms.

- National Institute of Justice, May 1997

Precita Park memorial bench. Made with 130 melted guns in honor of a young couple gunned down by an unstable relative. Guns into Art.

FACT: Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the 8-year Vietnam War. In 2003, the total number of people killed by guns in the United States was 30,136.

- Based on data from CDC National Center for Health Statistics WISQARS online data collection system, 2006.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

And, this one is from the American Bar Association:

"The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children younger than 15 years of age is nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1997;46:101-105.

"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
-Isaiah 2:4

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Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.