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We invite you to participate in Chainstitch, a collaborative art project presented by Textiles & Materiality Cluster, as part of the Milieux Institute’s Expo The Commons, September 25-29th. This project, programmed by Morris Fox, seeks to intertwine craft, community, and speculative futures through a fusion of individual expression and collective creation.
Please find the project description as well as work session schedule below. Kindly note that the work sessions are to help expand possibilities of experimentation and collaboration and are not mandatory for participation in this project.
If you are interested in participating, please email Morris Fox (T&M Coordinator) at textiles.materiality@concordia.ca
Project Statement:
Chainstitch is an exploration of collective and individual research-creation within the context of the Textiles & Materiality Cluster. This participatory initiative envisions a multimodal assemblage that weaves together shared research threads through hybrid approaches, echoing the decorative and utilitarian qualities of a chainstitch. It’s a speculative endeavor rooted in community reciprocity, drawing tactile and tacit knowledge from the materiality itself.
Collaborators will receive a base cloth as a canvas for experimentation, incorporating elements such as natural dyes reminiscent of a pharmacopoeia or physic garden. Through collaborative discussions across multiple labs, including the Speculative Life BioLab, and Matter and Sustainable Hybridity Lab, individual contributions will coalesce, resulting in an assemblage of visual storytelling, a chain letter.
This soft sculptural project engages multisensory experiences that connect humans and more-than-human entities as co-contributors. As we navigate the complex emotions of eco-grief, we embrace the act of crafting as a response-ability to interspecies memory. “Chainstitch” envisions alternative futures as acts of community care, entangling dialogue and emotional connections as living epistemes, woven from shared imaginings.
Reference image for 12×12 base cloth with grommets, which will be “chained” together to create the final assemblage.
Artist Statement:
Morris Fox, a queer interdisciplinary artist and new gothic writer, drives the narrative of “Chainstitch.” Through explorations of queer heterotopic alliances, materials, performance, and words, their practice delves into the intersections of craft, memory, and exchanges of alternative spaces within shared ecologies. Fox’s research-creation connects queer identity, memory, and the hauntings of nature and time.
Workshop Timeline:
Base cloths for home experimentation will be available to pick up (12×12 white cotton sergered squares).
Milieux Speculative Life BioLab (EV 10.835) 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM: This day will mark the final stages of bacteria dyeing, see your dye grow! (stamp stenciling on cloth, autoclave treatment). There will be an hour and a half lunch break during the autoclave process.
MaSH Lab (EV 10.615) 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Rust-dyeing session led by Dr. Miranda Smitheram. Explore dyeing techniques with rusted steel
Please note that closed toed shoes, pants, and something to tie your hair back if you have long hair are necessary safety precautions while in the Labs.
Participants can bring home their base cloth by the end of the day or arrange to pick them up with Morris Fox afterwards.
Collaborative work session and skill share with Morris Fox, tea will be provided.
Collaborative work session and skill share with Morris Fox, tea will be provided.
Completed works are to be dropped off and ready for installation in the 4th Space by the end of the week.
Your participation in “Chainstitch” contributes to a unique and collaborative exploration of shared imaginings, community care, and the interplay between the tactile and the speculative. Join us as we intertwine common threads.
For inquiries and to express your interest, please contact Morris Fox at textiles.materiality@concordia.ca