by Adrian Baker
Beneath the forest floor, networks of mycorrhizal fungi connect trees together in a symbiotic system of exchange that supplies water, minerals, and other nutrients. This subterranean web of connective tissue was the inspiration for “Net-Work” – my textile-based participatory installation project which opens at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum on April 27.
I initiated Net-Work at the beginning of 2020 via email and social media posts, inviting contributors to make long yarn or textile-based “strands” representing the underground network of connection in our forests. They could be knitted, crocheted, woven, or any other hand-crafted technique, preferably employing reused or recycled materials.
I hoped to have enough response to create an installation that would fill a room with hand-crafted fibrous strands, running from ceiling to floor and from wall to wall, creating a massive interwoven network of fibres. Spaces left between strands for people to move through the installation would offer visitors the sense of being within an underground network of interconnected roots and fungi.
Much like the ever-expanding growth of a mycorrhizal network, the community of collaborators for this project grew exponentially as the message spread via social media and word of mouth. When the pandemic hit just months after the project started, people began looking for ways to reach out to maintain connections, which also increased interest in the project.
To date, over 300 strands have arrived at my studio. I’ve received strands from almost every Canadian province and territory, from fifteen American states, and from eleven different countries. Many pieces have come from participants in Almonte, Carleton Place, Ottawa, and other Eastern Ontario locations.
The strands have been crafted both individually and collectively by professional artists, artist collectives, amateur crafters, families, retirement homes, weaving guilds and knitting groups. The common ‘thread’ is that participants are all drawn to the idea of creating an installation symbolizing interconnection and cooperation.
The hand-crafted pieces have been woven, crocheted, knitted, sewn, knotted, corked and braided using synthetic yarns, hand-spun and dyed wool, torn fabric strips, dried reeds, cotton, jute, string, plastic, burlap, beads, shells, and wire.
Every strand is unique: strands pieced together from fabric remnants left over from making face masks; a woven wool strand embroidered with computer code signatures meaning ‘tree’; a strand knitted in morse code with an “S.O.S” message for the environment; a traditional ‘flossie sieven’ (‘rush rope’ in Gaelic) from Scotland made of gathered reeds; a mixed-media collaborative strand made by an Indigenous artisan collective.
Along with the strands, I have also received countless emails, letters and cards expressing heartfelt stories from participants. I heard from a grandmother who taught her granddaughter to knit while explaining the importance of trees; from a woman who made her strand with neckties of her deceased husband, brother & father; from a young disabled woman who hand-dyed and hand-spun the wool for her strand. Participants have also shared their artwork, books, poetry, and songs with me.
I have been deeply touched and am very grateful to all the participants for sharing their time and creativity. Can we attribute this profound interest to a critical mass of people starting to think about symbiotic ways of interacting with the earth and with each other? Through community-centered collaboration, I hope that the Net-Work installation will serve to encourage this engagement around ideas of holistic ecology, biocentrism, and interconnection with both human and non-human kin.
Net-Work has been installed at the Festival of Trees in Mississauga, ON, and as part of the Indigenous ‘No Borders’ festival in a forest in Pontiac, PQ. Net-Work was also short-listed for the 2021 Berlin Social Arts Award. Plans are underway for future installations in other locations.
The Net-Work installation will be on view at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum from April 27 to July 6, 2024. The vernissage takes place Saturday, April 27 from 2 – 4pm.
I hope to see you there!