Emily Winter

This intensive studio course focuses on planning, experimentation, and production of woven works on traditional floor looms, computer-interfaced looms, and semi-industrial Dobby looms housed between the weaving studios in Fiber and Material Studies and The Weaving Mill (TWM), an artist-run industrial weaving studio in Humboldt Park which blends design, production, textile education and research-based practice. This course introduces students to experimental weaving designs, unconventional methods and materials, and the opportunity to produce their ideas at scale with access to the fully mechanized Dobby looms at The Weaving Mill.

Students will engage in rigorous studio practices, material culture research, and practical applications of their work. While conceptual questions around making will be central to the coursework, students will also be supported in identifying and researching the socio-economic and political ramifications of working in the language of woven cloth. Readings may include works by Hito Steryl, Rosalind Krauss, Jen Hewett, Anni Albers, T¿ai Smith, Peter Stallybrass, Karl Marx.

Over the course of the semester, students will produce a range of individually-motivated woven samples and studies, eventually working within the production parameters of the industrial looms at TWM to design and produce yardage for installation, object design, and artists¿ projects. Additionally, students will work alongside members of the W.E.F.T. program, a textile studio for adults with developmental disabilities run by TWM, broadening discussions around labor, value, ability and access

This course introduces floor loom hand weaving through the study of weave structures, woven image techniques, and fiber types. Students will explore both traditional and experimental approaches to material and technique, including double weaves, dyed warps, and hand-manipulated methods such as brocade and inlay. Over the course of the semester, students will produce finished weavings on 4-harness floor looms through in depth exploration and research. The course also examines the global histories of woven cloth through readings, presentations, and class discussions. Artists studied may include Diedrick Brackens, Lenore Tawney, and Gunta Stölzl, alongside writings by Anni Albers, T'ai Smith, and Dieter Hoffman-Axthelm. Students will learn to read and work from weaving draft patterns and will conduct independent research into artists and techniques of personal interest. Throughout, the course engages with the conceptual and material considerations of contemporary craft-based art. Students present finished and in-progress work in individual and group critiques throughout the semester.

Combining computer-assisted and digital technologies with analog hand weaving processes, this class is grounded in the contemporary use of the jacquard loom as a new media tool. The computer-driven TC (thread controller) digital jacquard looms interface with a computer to allow for direct control of individual threads, allowing for innovations in woven structure, composition, forms, and imagery. Utilizing Photoshop and Jacquard weaving software, students will realize projects that begin with digital source material and result in hand woven constructions. This graduate studio course emphasizes rigorous conceptual development and material explorations. Studio work will blend work at the computer, weaving on the loom, visual presentations, individual and group discussions of students' projects and works in process, readings, research and critical discussion.

Contemporary artists working with weaving including Lia Cook, Kate Nartker, Noel Andreson, Josh Faught, Janie Lourie, Sonya Rapoport, Christy Matson, Siena Smith, Percy Lam, and Jovencio de la Paz, Global and historical examples of weaving practices will also be presented and discussed. Readings can include texts by Rosalind Krauss, Walter Benjamin, Jean Baudrillard, Hito Steyerl, Sarat Maharaj, T'ai Smith, Lisa Nakamura.

Students will engage in sampling and experimentation, and also demonstrate an ongoing commitment to independent studio practice and projects. This graduate level class will importantly include in-depth discussion about students' work, concepts, material and technical choices, and thematic interests. Students are expected to work independently on relevant works of their choosing.