knitted banners | machine knitted acrylic | dimensions variable
'PART OF '"ON EST TOUS UN GROUPE D'AMIS ICI" (WE ARE ALL FRIENDS HERE)', Montreal 2015
FAIR ISLE MARKERS are a series of knitted textile banners, displaying quotations taken from the interviews, installed around the city. The texts are deliberatley unattribited, forcing us to guess at the author, and interpret the meaning ourselves. An additional series of pictoral patterned textiles were installed at shops, re-mixing the visual iconaography of each site as traditional fair-isle motifs. The banners were designed by Sam Meech and Marilene Gaudet, and knitted by Marilene Gaudet and Lysanne Latulippe.
The interviews were recorded as part of a 6 week research residency in May / Juen 2015, and build a complex portrait of the city's downtown district. There are many overlapping concerns, but also conflicting perspectives, on everything from art to gentrification, policing to protest, and tourism to trade. Notably in the 5 years since recording, a number of the small business traders have disappeared from the downtown area - a sign of the changing economics of Montreal.
The banners were originally exhibited as part of ESPACE COMMUN. FAIR ISLE MARKERS is one of a series of works , collectively entitled - "On est tous un groupe d’amis ici” (We are all friends here) - created with MTL artist Marilene Gaudet, that also audio interviews, interactive installation, and a stop motion knitted animation.
Produced by National Film Board of Canada, Quartier des Spectacles, Mutek and FACT Liverpool
Additional pixel art design by Dan Farrimond (UK) and Dimitri Panos (CA)
Additional knitting production by Lysanne Latulippe (CA)
"it's all about the dynamics of people"
Exhibitions
October 2015 – Espace Commun, Montreal, Canada
RELATED LINKS
Marilene Gaudet - https://cargocollective.com/marilenegaudet
Lysnane Latulippe - https://www.instagram.com/lysannelatulippe
Article - La Presse - 'Le Lac Meech', Oct 2015 - http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/6ac184a0-8331-4129-88b2-6aba00f4b921|_0.html
Article - ONF - 'La boîte vocale publique' - https://blogue.onf.ca/blogue/2015/10/15/la-boite-vocale-publique/
Article - ONF - 'La société du spectacle' - https://blogue.onf.ca/blogue/2015/10/13/societe-du-spectacle/
Article - ONF - 'Chérie, j’ai hacké la machine à tricot!' - https://blogue.onf.ca/blogue/2015/10/08/cherie-jai-hacke-machine-tricot/
Article - ONF - 'Espace commun? | Un parcours de 8 oeuvres inédites pour repenser l’art dans l’espace public à l’ère numérique' - https://blogue.onf.ca/blogue/2015/10/01/espace-commun/