NOT ON THE FABRIC BUT IN THE FABRIC : hardanger embroidery, animation and the grid

Abstract: This paper describes my work with a historical craft and my attempt to find new ways to look at it, work with it and present it. I use the embroidery technique Hardangersaum which is all white, and where selected threads of the woven fabric grid are removed while others are wrapped and embellished. The artistic research leans heavily on the traditional craft but tries to isolate it from its historical baggage. I turn my focus to the grid of the fabric and I present some viewpoints from Rosalind Krauss and Hannah B. Higgins. I describe questions of scale and presentation that have emerged and show how digital animation has played a major role in the development and the communication of the embroidery work.