22 class 2 lasers, perspex, transformers
Synthetic atmospheric conditions,
1mt x 1mt x …
Appliance: SOLARCH, UNSW Solar Research Center, Little Bay
The starting point for this work centres on issues pertaining to power, enforcement and regulation and their specific relationship to the silencing of women and children working in the textile industry.
As weaving, sewing and lace making are all traditionally women’s work and the material with which women weave, stitch or knit is soft and pliable. The use of lasers, a traditionally masculine material, emphasises the strength and power of the women engaging in the silent, invisible act of fabric making.
The invisible weft and waft threads, with their ability to slice through the body act, as metaphor for the pain and suffering women have endured through out history.
This work consists of 22 class 2 lasers inset into laser cut Perspex. The lasers are positioned slightly off center along the Perspex frame allowing the laser beams to appear to be woven. Ideally, the work is best hung in a space that can be circumnavigated by the viewing public. The visibility of the woven mesh is dependant on the creation of synthetic atmospheric conditions. The utilization of a fog machine or similar allows the woven laser beams to become visible to the human eye.
It is intended as a prototype for a larger installation, possibly in a garden or in a location where natural as well as synthetic atmospheric conditions will be able to interact with the lasers i.e. fog, dust etc. Ideally this work could be constructed from a variety of coloured lasers (Red, Green, Blue)
This work was exhibited at SOLARCH, UNSW’s Solar Research Center at Little Bay in the Appliance Exhibition and at Sydney College of the Arts and in the Intersections Art, Health, Science and Medical Technology Exhibition as a part of the Synergy: Art, Health & Design World Symposium.