Category Archives: ephemera
Final shots
File image from double weave sample
Today is the final day of the beginner Jacquard workshop at the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles in Quebec. I have submitted my final sample files including a double weave sample, a range of structures devised using random numbers and another applying those structures to a photographic image.
File image from randomized structural "greyscale"
The weavers at MCCT have done a really great job of keeping up with the class and I am impressed with the quality of the weaving every day. Below is a video of Dahlia Milon at the loom this morning. The cloth at the breast beam of the loom is actually my double weave sample – if you squint you can see the bow ties.
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Double-up
First set of samples ready to be finished
Today we received our first sample from the loom. My combination of twill and satin was almost right, but I think I would have to push the distinction between the two for more clarity in the image. The second design, a two-weft experiment is much more compelling. Because it is still attached to the loom I have posted a simulation below.
Double weave was the main focus of the day, and Louise provided us with some very useful ways to work with multiple layers, pockets, piquet and stitiched weaves. I am working on a sample with as many structure ideas I can fit and am excited for the result.
Gown worn by Gael García Bernal in the Almodovar film Bad Education
This evening, Jacquard classmate Barbara and I visited The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The scale of the exhibition is almost as impressive as the work itself which is well, stunning. If you are in Montreal before October, you should see it. Twice.
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gautier from Mackenzie Frere on Vimeo.
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Where is my weft?
One warp, two wefts. Spent the day chasing errant digital threads around. Unplugging for the night.
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Grids and grayscales
Mackenzie Frère | Simulation of Jacquard sample "stemflow"
Each day of the workshop, every student will have a section of his or her sample file woven. Today I chose to submit this sample with multiple twills. In another experiment I used an image from my recent material study Air over land. There may be something here, but I will have to make more to find out.
Mackenzie Frère | Experimental image before structure application
Tonight I am busy extracting light and dark areas from images of grass and stone and a curious ink drawing made by my partner (thank you Kristofer). In the process I hope to achieve non-repeating, organic structures that will then be reapplied to images like these. In the process I hope that they will retain some legibility, but lose the regular grid of woven structures like twill or satin. It is not lost on me that I am using an exacting digital grid to do this, but then even with an apparently organic woven structure the grid will remain no?
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Drawing in the air
Arrived in Montreal last night. On the plane I made some drawings/images thinking about weaving and water.
The Jacquard workshop at the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Craft begins today.
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Jacquard Workshop in Montreal
Mackenzie Frère | digital file for Jacquard
Next week I am headed to Montreal for a Jacquard workshop with Louise Lemieux Berube at the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles in Quebec. Looking forward to spending some time thinking about the application of this complex tool in new work.
Mackenzie Frère | Sand cloth (detail) | cotton
Since I first used a Jacquard loom in 2003 I have been fascinated with the possibilities for organic, non-repeating structure that this type of loom presents and am looking forward to investigating this idea further. More soon…
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When in Rome…
si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sicut ibi
“if you were in Rome, live in the Roman way; if you are elsewhere, live as they do there” – St Ambrose
