▲▲❍: Unraveling the Fabric of Time

Installation by SeungYeon Sarah Lee, RISD '13

This is a project that I worked on last spring semester (spring, 2010) in Spatial Dynamics (3D) Class. The assignment was to visually portray time. There were no limits to materials, size, and location.

While I was brainstorming ideas, I read my friend's note on time, and came across a phrase, 'unraveling the fabric of time.' As a knitter, it instantly caught my attention. And, of course, I asked her if she was using that idea, and she said 'no.' So I settled with the idea of 'unraveling the fabric of time.' At that time, I had already took a Machine Knitting class(great course, everyone should take it!) during the winter session, I machine knitted 9 black fabrics of different widths and lengths. Although I made them vary in sizes and techniques, I was sure that I wanted them all in black. Because time is infinite and, therefore, confounding, black was the color to represent its enigma. As I was knitting the fabrics, I did not cast off so that when I set them up as an installation, people can go up and pull on it, which would represent the interactive 'unraveling the fabric of time.'

Finishing the 9 fabrics, I washed them and steamed them so they would appear flatter. Brought them to my room, and started randomly hanging them on the ceiling with fish wires. After making my room a total mess, I was finally able to come up with a composition that I liked, which is...

please excuse my messy room, I was in a hurry

Once I decided the composition, I ran to What Cheer Studios (Benefit St., Providence, RI) where I had my 3D class. It was around 10PM, and luckily, there was no one in the studio working on his/her project, which is very rare at RISD. So I was able to move the tables around, turn the lights on and off, and change positions of the lights for my convenience. I set up my knitting installation on a pole right next to the pole with the lights, so that when I turned all the fluorescent lights off, except for the 2 halogen lights right in front of my installation,I would get strong shadows and a calming atmosphere. Then for the finishing touch, I connected all the dangling unfinished ends of the 9 fabrics to the cone of yarn that I made the fabrics out of. I wanted to create a sense of transformation of the forms (yarn to fabric) and give an extra indication of time. Making sure the fabrics, the cone of yarn, and lights were placed in the right place, I strolled back to my room.

10PM at What Cheer Studios

First when I presented my work for critique, I was pretty nervous because Gareth Jones, my professor, suggested that it has a nostalgic feeling and is aesthetically beautiful enough that it does not have to be interactive with the viewers. However, I insisted that it was important to 'unravel' the piece, and my classmates went up one by one and started unraveling the fabrics. It turned out to be a great success. Not only was it very interactive with the viewers, but also it left behind bits of fractals(we studied fractals in this class for our first project, sadly this project is at home in Seoul, Korea :( i may be able to post this up when I get home during the summer) on the floor with the unraveled yarns. Although I do not have anything of this project left with me except for pictures and a couple of videos, overall, I believe it was a great experience(first interactive installation of my life) and a lesson(you don't always have to do what your teacher tells you to do, ha!).