ADROIT www.adroit.com
Spring Edition: Freshen Up
Volume Number 2
tanya aguinia
size does matter
furniture for makers
Visiting Artist
Arm Knitting
Handcrafted Furnitture
[uh-droit] To be Adroit is to be a maker. To be skillful, resourceful and ingenious. Adroit promotes the skill and nimbleness of the maker's hands and body. We are not only to exemplify creativity but to inspire those who wish to create. Adroit, a magazine for makers.
contents
what's inside
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| spring 2016
Materials
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size does matter
Let’s get knitting! But don’t you dare pick up those needles!
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tanya aguinia
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furniture for makers
Interview with furniture designer Tanya Aguiniga
Furniture made by makers for makers. Beautifully crafted pieces to fit your style.
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pottery pros and cons
Hear it from the pros how to handle your clay better.
Building Blocks 3
the maestro
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the team
5
keep talking
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read about it
34
submissions
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web extras
adroit.com
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acknowledgements
The Team
communications vice president
Steve Rodgers creative president president/ceo
creatives
Ashleigh Korona
Stacie Linfield, Katie Durst, deputy editor in chief
Hannah Chisholm, Michelle
Administration
Carrigin, Taylor Saltmarsh
Elizabeth Taylor assistant to editor senior managing editor
publishing systems
Katherine Hepburn
Taylor Aubut
Richard Burton business operations senior digital editor
Audrey Hepburn
James Dean scheduling senior photo editor
Rock Hudson editorial administrator
design
short-form direction
senior design editors
Rod Serling
Vince Vaugn, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlburg, Lisa
Don Knots
Simpson, Bart Homer
Alice Tripoli, Ken Rodgers, Steve Harrington, George Sims,
Clint Eastwood
Heidi Klum, Mila Kunis,
Carlos Jugger
Emma Watson, Obi Wan
writers chief fabric coordinator
John Wayne assistant fabric coordinator
Judy Garland
design admin
Otis Campbell, Beatrice
Chewy Baccania
Taylor, Howard Stern, Floyd Dinton, Suzanne Chillton, Bonnie
special investigations
Fin Obertein, Jason Darulo, Ned Ginnings, Cat Cedar
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life mission to make it all beautiful. Grace Kelly Photographer
art director could be found wandering the building shouting her name. Her uniqueness shines through in her lovely work. Jerry White Photographer Oh Jerry. Nothing in the world compares to this gem. The wild card of wild cards, Jerry’s photography stands alone being so inviting and playful. His work with yarn is what brought her to our attention in our selection process. Cary Grant Writer From the ripe age of eleven Cary knew he wanted to write. Having earned his degree at Northeastern University and receiving his master’s he boldly walked onto the scene, pen in hand and ready for anything.
Lawson, Vince Carver, Harry
Waz, Steve Jobs, Michaela Kaye
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typographer constantly and has made it her
design specialists
Gary Albriton, Cindy Loper, yarn director
her craft. Growing up in New York she saw
hard to get a hold of. Every other day the
news and features
editors editorial assistant
this young designer was beginning to unfold
Grace doesn’t play by the rules and is quite
Luke Skywalker
Andy Grifith
As the new millenium was in its youngest age
Harrison Ford systems admin
Carrie Fisher
Marilyn Monroe Guest Typographer
senior project manager
Paul Newman senior production director
contributors
Tony Stark
| spring 2016
letters to the editor
Keep Talking Natural Perfection
Hello my dear makers
Dear Editor
Dear Adroit
I want to give a shout out, hells yeah, and raise that roof alert to Adroit for getting down to the gritty details of wood crafting. I was inspired by your branch article featuring project ideas and techniques. I love it! I can’t stop! I want branches in every room in my house! I love the natural feel it gives the room. I am currently redecorating my home and I really wanted to touch upon the nature that surrounds my home. I live in Colorado set right back up on a beautiful mountain. With all this lovely beauty outside the interior of my home was paling in comparison. I am so glad to start filling my house with all this natural beauty. The small jars were the perfect little home for my new baby plants. I hope they grow long so they flow down the walls of bedroom. You guys should really use more nature in your crafts, maybe even plant advice for different regions. With all this nature my house is so much fresher and inspirational, I love it! I can’t wait for your next issue to hit the shelves, I need way more tips to help my remodeling. I did visit your website to find loads more ideas that went great with my beautiful branches!
It’s Casey here telling you what a delightful time I had trying out the fun crafts in your issue this past month. I am the envy of all my friends with my sleek new branch decor in my apartment. Everyone one wants to know my secrets but I will never tell! We can keep these little gems between you and me, right? I look so creative with my arching branch doorway and matching branch candles. They bring the room alive with their organic look and even their fresh scent! (That might change though.) I want to keep expanding my collection! I loved the other ideas for wood on your website. I started a few carvings for my kitchen that I think look pretty cute. I should make this into a full time gig at the rate I’m going! It is a whole lot of fun and I just want to keep going with it! You guys should keep adding more nature crafts to you magazine and on your website, I want to expand my wonderful crafty collection!
I enjoyed your article about indoor gardens so much! Especially the idea about wine bottle art. I ran right out the very same day to the liquor store to buy some of those pretty cute wine bottles. There was enough wine to fill a bathtub! I have to be honest I didn’t cut the bottles all by myself, my sweet husband helped me. I did, however, needed no help finishing off all that wine, oh boy that was a good fun morning. Choosing the plants was a real hoot! The guide you included about how to chose the right plants for your home really helped! My little, precious darlings are strong and healthy! My friend Rhonda helped me place them all around the house, finding just the perfect spaces that could be brightened up with a little nature. We went to Rhonda’s house after to make a mason jar garden for her herbs. They sure were beautiful! Getting them on the wall with clamps was a fabulous solution, and it even found a real purpose for all the clamps my husband leaves around the garage. Your magazine might benefit from more technique driven articles to further my creative knowledge.
I have been a huge fan of your magazine ever since I moved into my nice new apartment. It is tucked away in nyc and so far away from all the nature that I love. That is why I was so impressed by your issue this month! I was absolutely thrilling to see the inspirational ideas on how to bring the nature I love into my drab, cold, little apartment. I took several of your ideas, one that was absolutely perfect for me in particular, log furniture! I have seen pieces before and have been stunned by how beautiful they look indoors. Unfortunately these pieces can get very pricey being made of real wood. I drove a little ways outside the city to find a vendor that sold chopped wood perfect for my project. It was kinda cramped and totally messy working on my wood in my living room but it was totally worth it. Seeing the finished piece was so satisfying! I made the coffee table from your step by step directions and it just came out great. I want to expand my log furniture further, perhaps a bed frame next, who knows!
~Casey G. New Jersey
~Shirley L. Texas
~Linda R. Colorado
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~Brian O. New York
Wood Carving Bobedre House plants in stylish, colored pots.
Coat Rack Cindy Coolidge Mason jar vase attached to wall using clamps.
Mittens Tom Jigings Hanging terrarium with succulent plant.
Pottery Cory Godered Glazed ceramic pots
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Left Page Anne Weil Knitting without Needles Multiple projects including floor poof, pillow, and scarf
Middle Margaret Hubert Granny Square Book
Right Jan Saunders Sewing for Dummies
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reviews
Read About It KNITTING WITHOUT NEEDLES
CREATIVE NATURE AND OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Anne Weil
Brenda Tharp
Filled with beautiful photographs, Anne Weil’s new book, Knitting without Needles is the perfect book to gift. Whether it’s for the knitter curious about arm knitting, the wannabe knitter who can’t quite tame her needles, or simply your favorite crafter, this book is for them. This book not only teaches the basics of finger and arm knitting from scratch, but the author has managed to take needleless knitting to a new level, infusing it with traditional knitting techniques for stylish projects that come together in no time. When Anne, who is also the mastermind behind Flax & Twine, asked me to be on her book tour, I jumped at the chance to say yes. Everything Anne does is…well…perfection! And her new book is no exception. The photography is simply stunning. It’s a book worth having in your library solely for eye candy inspiration. Even, my three year old enjoyed flipping through it. There are three project sections: things to wear such as scarves, necklaces, and hats; things to decorate one’s home such as pillows, baskets, and rugs; and things for play such as toys, crowns, and even a reading nook. A very comprehensive how - to section in the back of the book discusses yarn weights and gauges and what to use for the different projects. It goes on to show step - by - step instructions for how to finger and arm knit with a series of close-up photographs and well-written, easy to comprehend written instructions. Once one has mastered these instructions, the projects are within reach. I first met the author, fellow blogger Anne of Flax & Twine, at a blogging conference in 2014. She and I have a lot in common. We’re
A classic guide to creative nature photography, now updated for the digital world. Amateur and experienced photographers interested in taking more compelling, personal images will love this new edition of Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, now updated to address the exciting possibilities (and challenges) of digital image-making. Author Brenda Tharp’s inspiring approach has garnered fans all over the world, as she teaches that magical skill no camera can do for you: learn how to “see.” Readers expand their photographic vision and discover deep wellsprings of creativity as they learn to use light, balance, color, design, pattern, texture, composition, and many simple techniques to take a photo from ordinary to high-impact. Featuring more than 150 stunning, all-new images, Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography, Revised Edition is for anyone who understands the basic technical side to photography but wants to wake up their creative vision.
both bloggers, lovers of yarn crafts, and coincidence of coincidences, we’re both wives of statisticians. (She’s the only one I know, come to think of it!) Anne is the blogger I aspire to be, Flax & Twine is full of gorgeous photographs and completely elegant ideas for homey crafts. Anne’s aesthetic has been beautifully translated into Knitting without Needles. Not unlike Martha Stewart’s aesthetic, the vibe of this book is light, bright and airy. As you leaf through it, this book makes you feel like it’s morning on a beautiful day that’s about to be filled with handmade fun.
FURNITECTURE Anne Yudina
Furnitecture is a sourcebook exploring the furnishings, interior environments, and solutions for small spaces at the meeting point between design and architecture. The book features the work of a rising generation of designers across the globe who are starting to think about furniture in an architectural way, resulting in pieces that brilliantly transform interior spaces. Boosted by digital design and new manufacturing possibilities, furniture design that morphs into “micro architecture” is one of the most innovative fields of design today. Surveyed here are hundreds of examples of these objects, including bookshelves that can dynamically divide and reshape a room, chairs that create intimate room-like enclosures, and self-contained, expandable kitchen cubes. From Chicago-based firm Bureau Spectacular’s “Briefcase house,” and Japanese architect Shigeru Ban’s moving boxes within rooms to Dutch designers Makkink & Bey’s conversational Ear Chairs and the French atelier 37.2’s series of self-standing cubes, Furnitecture opens the door to a world of design invention and innovation. Presented in a compact, beautifully illustrated format, this volume will be an essential resource for designers and hip consumers everywhere.
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Size Does Matter Jean Abby A new craze has hit the knitting world and we are not ashamed to admit that we’re totally obsessed. Arm knitting has hit with a bang, and once you understand what it’s all about, it’s easy to see why it’s such a big hit. Firstly, you don’t have to be a master knitter - novices can pick this up with ease. Secondly, there are no needles or hooks to bother with! All you need is yarn and your two arms. Instead of that very structured look that you get with conventional knitting, you’re able create chunky-looking infinity scarves (or snoods) with very loose stitches, for a more casual and informal look. Arm knitting typically uses yarn in a size of six or “extra bulky”. Knitters can decide the number of skeins they want to use based on desired thickness and length. Scissors are the only other tool than the knitter’s arms. Normal crafts that can be made with arm knitting are blankets, scarves, infinity scarves, and cowls. Okay so there are three important rules to remember when you delve into the world of arm knitting: You need a lot of yarn, especially if you want your scarf to be long enough to loop around your neck twice. I bought two big packs of super chunky gray yarn, and that was the perfect amount. The yarn also needs to be chunky or your knits will come out holey weird looking. Try to keep organized. The yarn will end up in three piles around you, and if you get confused about which yarn is coming from which pile, you’ll probably mess up and have to start over. Also, try to keep your cats away: piles of yarn equals piles of fun for them and piles of tangled mess for you.Don’t let the loops get too tight on one arm! Keep everything as loose as possible without letting anything slip, just like with real knitting.
Michelle Carigan
Cary Andres
Tom Garber
W
hen it comes to knitting, Lydia Schoenbein thought she had seen it all. The 73 year old retired nursing home supervisor from Morton, Ill., learned to knit and crochet when she was growing up in Germany and can make everything from socks and shawls to cable knit sweaters. So when her 22 year old granddaughter, Carly Hill, visited and showed off her own creation, a crude looking, rope like cream scarf, “I was flabbergasted, to tell you the truth,” recalls Ms. Schoenbein. The accessory hadn't exactly been handmade. It was the product of a new cultural yarn: arm knitting. An increasingly popular activity among younger generation do - it - yourself enthusiasts, arm knitting uses the forearms in lieu of knitting needles. The resulting scarves and blankets feature rows of loops that are 2.5" to 4" wide. Owing to the large, holey rows, an entire project can be completed in less than 30 minutes, a fraction of the time needed to whip up a scarf using knitting needles. Arm knitting's rise can be traced to aspiring designer Andrea Brena, shown demonstrating it last year in Berlin. Arm knitting's rise can be traced to aspiring designer Andrea Brena, shown
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demonstrating it last year in Berlin. Arm knitting combines several things that are appealing to millennials: crafts projects, chunky knitwear (featured on the fall 2013 high fashion runways), social media and instant gratification. It just so happens that a popular item to make is a so-called infinity scarf, a circular accessory that slips right over the head. Handily, the hobby doesn't require a kindly elder to show novices the ropes. Unlike traditional knitting, which has been passed down from generation to generation, the arm knitting craze has spread via technology. “I learned how to knit and crochet from my grandma,” says Ms. Hill, a substitute teacher from Chandler, Ariz. “I learned how to arm knit from the Internet.” While the yarn cage appearance of arm knit items may not have universal appeal, there is demonstrable demand. Currently there are about 300 boutiques selling arm knit scarves on Etsy.com, the online marketplace that promotes handmade goods. Most go for under $50. Not everybody is convinced that the arm knit aesthetic has staying power. “It seems like a thing for kids in a rush,” says Rita Bobry, the proprietor of a well known Manhattan knitting supply boutique.
| spring 2016
Ruth Arborson
Yet the trend has legs. Even folks at the Knitting Guild Association, a Zanesville, Ohio-based nonprofit dedicated to knitting education, are embracing it. “Our staff members often gather at lunch with socks on our needles or baby blankets,” says program coordinator Debby Johnston. This year, she says, they are meeting to arm knit scarves for quick Christmas gifts instead. Many arm knitters say they picked up the technique from a video tutorial that has been disseminated on Pinterest, the social networking platform popular among crafters. Shot by Amanda Bassetti, a part-time nanny in Uncasville, Conn., known for her blog SimplyMaggie.com, the 10 minute video goes through the entire scarf making process. It begins with “casting on,” with a slipknot on the right arm, then shows how to create rows of stitches, looping them from one arm to the other. Thus far, Ms. Bassetti's tutorial has been viewed about 500,000 times on You Tube, earning her $1,400 in advertising revenue from Google for the month of November alone. Having so many comrades in arms “has been quite overwhelming,” says Ms. Bassetti. She has received so much feedback from viewers that she posted a follow-up video, “Arm Knitting: Your Questions Answered,” to respond to some of her acolytes' most pressing
concerns due to the overwhelming response. It was great to hear these concerns. Among them: what to do if one has to use the restroom while in the midst of a project. “You can always just move the stitches to one arm. That way you have another free arm to pick up the balls of yarn and go about doing what you need to do,” she says. Chloe Vignola, an 19-year-old college freshman from Wasilla, Alaska, threw up her hands in frustration after two failed attempts at arm knitting last April, during which she watched Ms. Bassetti's video tutorial. On Twitter, she posted a picture of herself shrouded in an unruly cocoon of gray yarn. The caption read, “Currently a representation of my arm knitting skills and life skills.”
adroit.com
Find fabulously chunky yarns at online retails like Amazon, Etsy, and yarn.com. Choose from among bunches of brands that range in materials from thick, heavy wool to more breathable acrylic.
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size does matter
After untangling herself and taking some deep breaths, Ms. Vignola eventually figured it out. Ms. Bassetti's tutorial “makes it look so easy,” she says. "But arm knitting takes a lot of resilience." Indeed, Jessica Morgan, co-founder of the Go Fug Yourself celebrity fashion blog, says the look indicates that the makers must be “very resourceful.” “Whoever figured out how to knit with just her arms is going to do way better than I will once the zombie apocalypse comes,” says Ms. Morgan. The call to arm knitting most likely came from Italy, home to master textile weavers like the Missoni fashion family. While it is impossible to finger just one person for the trend, the technique's rise can be traced to an Italian-born aspiring designer named Andrea Brena. Last year, the 25 year old student turned arm knitting into performance art for a project, called “Knitted Army,” that he presented at a design festival in Berlin. In a sort of reverse Edward Scissorhands routine, he used strips of high-end fabric coiled around the length of his arm to create beanbag chairs, pillows and rugs. The technique generated lots of attention.
“The moment I started knitting in public I became very embarrassed, but then I realized it was an incredible tool to talk to people,” says Mr. Brena. A sped-up video of his installation was picked up by the architecture website Designboom.com, after which it went viral, generating about 45,000 views on YouTube. Ms. Bassetti acknowledges that Mr. Brena's video was one of a few that she closely examined to teach herself. (“She could have mentioned me!” says Mr. Brena.) The noodle-y look of the scarves has baffled some observers. “Am I the only person who thinks this looks like a bunch of knotted rope?” asked one poster to Lifehacker, a blog—linked to Ms. Bassetti's video, that features tips for doing things more efficiently. The more efficient the better as she says, something she repeats often as she works. While most arm knitters typically stick to making scarves and shawls, online commenters suggest using the craft to create everything from a hammock for stuffed animals (real pets might get tangled in the wide stitches) to a cargo net and a g-string.
Gunther Ferguson
Upper Left Photo: Cecial Wong Blanket Upper Right Photo: Terry Owens Bath matt and towel Below Photo: Aaron Chancy Knited Plotter
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Ann Denton, an associate professor in the text tiling development and marketing department at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, is somewhat puzzled by the droopy, wide - gauge style. “I am a cable person,” she says. Ms. Bassetti, meanwhile, insists she has only racked up compliments. “Normally people say I am a genius,” she says. Hone your giant craft and have hours of fun making all your new projects! Visit the websites below for video tutorials and even more inspiration! Knitting with friends is even better! Get the girls together and get lost in yarn and wine. Look in our reviews section for a terrific how - to book all about the art of arm knitting! We hope you enjoy knitting without needles as much as we do! Go big or go home!
Timothy Olgensten
Aaron Chancy
Aaron Chancy
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Tanya Aguinia an interview by Charles Mendon
tanya aguinia
Sometimes a chair is not a chair. Sometimes it is a way to muck up the prevailing cultural orthodoxy, as well as a place to set your buttocks on and take a load off. An unsuspecting, nondescript metal folding chair, for instance, might go into the workshop of furniture designer Tanya Aguiniga and come out with mummified with yarn. Or looking like it grew an epidermis of wool, or sprouted a thin layer of fuzzy pink moss. “The idea was to transform the folding chairs into the opposite of what they are,” she says. “You know, no longer cold, no longer uninviting, no longer mass - produced.” Among merciless chair snobs, there is no more alternately coveted and derided piece than the Eames chair. Aguiñiga’s gallery manager asked her to cover one of those in wool. He happened to have a bunch of the
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chairs sitting around in his basement. Beyond her gallery work and online sales Tanya also experiments with “performance crafting” which doesn’t look easy seeing her do it. On a sunny summer day, artist Tanya Aguiñiga placed a few coins in a Beverly Hills parking meter, spread a blanket down in the empty parking space, tied herself to a palm tree, and began backstrap weaving. Forty minutes later, two police cars arrived to Aguiñiga’s site, followed by officers inquiring about her actions, and threatening to give her a ticket. As a police helicopter approached in the distance, Aguiñiga packed up her supplies in front of a growing crowd of onlookers, but her experiment in performance crafting had just begun. Based on backstrap weaving techniques she learned in Chiapas, Mexico, the “New York City of indigenous cultures,” as she puts it, Aguiñiga affixes herself to an object, which acts as a counterbalance as she pulls the shuttle across the loom. But performance crafting isn’t just about the finished product, she says, it’s about the process, which explores identity, means of production, and our relationship to our environments. I was there while Aguiñiga set up shop there in the 90210, and later when she
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tied herself to the iconic Beverly Hills sign, dressed in traditional Mexican clothing. Recently, we caught back to reflect on her first installment of performance crafting, revisit the impetus behind the project and reveal her conversation with the Beverly Hills police. Drew Tewksbury: Talk about that first time that you saw backstrap weaving.
Tanya Aguiñiga: The first time that I saw it for sure it was in Zinacantán. That’s where people do a bunch of weaving and there’s ladies hanging out in the street weaving, just making their own stuff. Where the woman becomes part of the machine.
It was just really crazy to see how complicated the system is. They were talking about, “oh, it took be 14 years to learn how to do this.” And then they were talking about how it’s not something that’s passed on, you have to ask somebody to teach you and not a lot of people do it anymore. And were they open to teaching you?
They were totally open to teaching me but then the woman that was teaching me,
Upper Left Photo: Christina Wang Picture of Tanya Aguiniga Below Photo: Tanya Aguiniga Redesigned Industrial Chairs Upper Right Photo: Tanya Aguiniga Weaving
her daughters didn’t know how to do it. So by us learning, the little daughters were learning too, cause they were like, “oh, she never taught us.” By me asking to kind of be part of the entire process: how do you sheer a sheep, how do you prepare the wool, how do you turn that wool into yarn? I wanted to learn the entire process from
my god, I can’t believe you’re learning how to backstrap weave, can I come? Can you teach me after they teach you? Can you teach me?” And then when I went to Chiapas and I saw they are pretty insular, like they don’t have much interaction with non-indigenous people and they don’t know how long they’ve been there, and how they just stayed in the same little place. They don’t have a lot of contact with like Westerners or whatever.
“The idea was to transform simple objects into
the opposite of what they are, no longer cold, no longer uninviting, no longer mass - produced" sheep to finished thing. By me asking about all that stuff, then they were like, “oh, my mom never taught me, can I come along and watch?” And so they started learning stuff that they hadn’t learned before. And then people from the other towns were like, “oh
adroit.com
Yeah, the outside world.
It was really interesting to me that they had still used the pure form, like the old school Meso-American way of weaving. It was just really nice. This whole idea of de - colonializing your mind. Yeah, so I was just like “oh my
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tanya aguinia
god, this is really cool, that they’re still doing the old school thing.” But then also, it frees you up to be able to weave anywhere. Why did you decide to do backstrap weaving in the States, in a public area?
It’s just a really beautiful process. It’s like this weird dance where your body and the piece are so linked.
and so it’s bringing attention to the object but also bringing attention to the process because its something that people haven’t seen before, so people want to sort of check it out. To me, like in the end of most of the stuff that I do, I want to just use attention to draw attention to something that I think is important.
about this idea: if I pay for something, then it’s mine. And so I thought “well, I don’t think I’ll get in trouble because I paid for it, so I’m legally its owner for an hour, if I pay for an hour, so I can do whatever I want there.” That’s how I thought I could get away with doing something in a really public place. But parking is so valuable parking in l.a.
So, why did you decide on Beverly
Especially in Beverly Hills. So you
And tying yourself to something is a kind of
Hills then?
bought the spot.
protest too, right?
Then it turned into: maybe it would be cool to do it in places that are unexpected and not so much worry about what it is that you’re tied to. So then I thought that when people think about l.a., they think about Rodeo Drive, money and excess.
So we pulled up into the spots and then we paid for it, and then I thought I could actually get work done. I spread out the blanket on the ground. I wanted to do it in one place that was super visible but I wanted to see how people would react to me if I was dressed in a very nondescript way.
I was thinking about how when you tie yourself to something you draw attention to the object that you’re tied to. I was thinking about what things are significant to me and how can I have a dialogue with those things. How could I record those things? So I kept thinking, “okay, how can I have a dialogue, like a conversation with an inanimate object and then have like a record of that experience and that time?” Then I was thinking, “well this backstrap weaving is the perfect thing because at the end of it I would have a finished thing that would tell me about what that experience was.
You also chose to do this in front of the ysl store, in front of super high end fashion.
Yeah. Those fashion pieces are made out of fabric and I’m making fabric in front of a fashion store, which is something that most people don’t associate, like how fabric is made and the history from start to finish of something.
When you sat down there and you laid down all the tools and everything, at first it looked like you were just someone working on the parking meters or somethings like that. Describe that process of for you, how did it feel from setting the stuff up, to finally putting the stuff together and beginning the
And record those locations in textiles.
Lead us through the process. How did you
weaving process?
Yeah. And so then I was thinking about what’s significant to me, what do I want to tie myself to, what I want to bring attention to
find the spot, what was it like setting up?
It was super stressful.
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The spot itself wasn’t as important as like being able to get two spots. I was thinking
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Tanya's superb collection goes beyond what you see here. Visit her work at tanyaaguinia.com to view her studio pieces along with her wearbles and homegoods. You can even take them home by purchasing them off of onekingslane.com along with other gorgeous pieces from talented artists.
tanya aguinia
Why?
So, you sit down, you have it all going. Were
Because I get really anal about actually doing work and getting stuff done and getting it done fast enough and it was taking a really long time just to set up. So I was like really stressed out because I was just like, “I need to get to work,” you know? And it was just people walking by and just the situation didn’t seem like it was the best work environment and so I was really stressed out.
you noticing people stopping or talk to you?
So you attached it to the parking meter?
I actually attached it to a palm tree. I thought I was going to attach it to the parking meter but then the palm tree was just fatter and easier to work with so I attached it to the palm tree, which made it even funnier cause its like, you know, palm trees in Beverly Hills.
Yes, people were stopping and people were actually asking what I was doing and they were actually interested. It was funny that the yls [security guard] was like, “oh, what are you doing?” and he was like, “oh, cool.” It seemed like he was excited to see what was going to be the outcome of it. But it was pretty interesting that people were actually asking what I was doing and they were stopping to look. And some people, were I think kind of going out of their way to step over my stuff. Instead of going around, they would step into my workspace, which I thought was kind of weird. It seemed like there was a lot of tourists too and that in some sense they were new to this spot that they, everything was so foreign to them that they didn’t think it was weird.
Yeah. I think they probably thought it was part of some entertainment. Then the cops showed up.
So, we’re doing everything but I wasn’t even able to do anything. I was still setting up. I mean it makes sense that, like in Chiapas when I was working with my weaving teacher, she wouldn’t set it up and she wouldn’t take it down. She would just roll it up and leave it there. So then I was like, okay you leave it up because it takes a while to set up, you know? Cause I was like, “shit man, I’ve been here 45 minutes and I can’t even get this thing started.” I couldn’t get comfortable too because I was like, “dammit, I’m sitting on hot pavement and this kind of sucks.” So, it took a little while to set it up and I didn’t get to do anything and then the cops got there. I don’t think they even had any sirens or anything. So then they came out and as soon as they came out, like I just wanted to kind of ignore them and try to get some work done but then they were really mad. What did they say to you?
Well they said that I had to get all of my stuff and leave and that I wasn’t allowed to be on
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the street and I said, “Well, I rented the space, I paid for the meter.” And then they said, “no, you’re not allowed to be on the street if you’re not a car.” They said that it was dangerous. They wanted to write me a ticket if I didn’t get my stuff together as fast as possible. Is there a ticket for weaving in the street?
No. And they took the little thing out and they were like, “you better do this faster, I’m about to write you a ticket.” But they felt bad though. They felt bad for me. Cause even one guy was like, “I know this is stupid. You should try it in l.a. County. I think they wouldn’t care. This is Beverly Hills.” Then the helicopters came and looked at us. I was like, “oh my God, this is such bullshit.”
Above Chunky woven bracelets, gray Tanya Aguiniga
Below Woven Necklace Tanya Aguiniga
Right Woven Necklace Tanya Aguiniga
Two cars and a helicopter.
Two cars and a helicopter. Yeah, like we weren’t doing anything mean. It was just like a super benevolent activity. But I was pretty upset though that they didn’t let me rent that spot, when I thought I had rented it.
so I was like, “no, no, no. What do you want to know? Do you want to help me?” It was cool cause that little boy was interested.
really annoyed that I was in their pictures. Must have been some great shots from what I heard about it.
Yeah. I mean you still had, 20 minutes.
I thought that was super interesting because
Yeah. Cause they had to come all this
I still had money in the meter. It makes me not understand. They were like, “oh no, it’s because you can get ran over, a car can park there and not see you.” But then I was like, “what if I put cones up?”
little kids don’t have the knowledge of
way and then you being in their shot.
boundaries and the mom saw you doing this
There’s like this random chick, in a crazy outfit, in their pictures.
Where’d you go next?
The cops, I think, were the ones that told us that there was a nice park. And they said, “go over to the nice park, nobody’s going to mess with you there.” I thought it would make a nice photo - op to go over there and to put on the traditional clothes and do it in a place that’s full of tourists touristing. We went over there and the same thing. It took me awhile to set up and then as soon as I set up though, there was a little boy that came over. He was asking what I was doing and then they were interested, the little boy wanted to help. But his mom was like, “oh don’t talk to her.”
Yeah. his mom was like, “don’t talk to her, she’s doing something. Don’t bother her,” and
thing and stayed out of your boundaries. But kids don’t get it and he just went over and talked to you.
I thought that made a really interesting social
It was interesting though that everybody tried their hardest to ignore me at that spot. Everybody tried really hard to ignore me.
apart, where the tourists’ interaction was,
interaction where it broke the whole thing “we’re going to go to this spot and this exchange will occur: I’m going to go to this
Because there was people trying to
spot, we’re going to stand in front of this
get a photo.
sign, then I’m going to get this photo.” And
They were all trying to take pictures with that Beverly Hills sign. But they wouldn’t even look at me. That part was interesting that like on Rodeo, dressed like nothing, people felt like I was more approachable and then dressed in like performance stuff, and so it was interesting because it’s like kind of how you feel when you go to an art gallery. Stuff becomes so much more formal and it makes you uncomfortable. So it was interesting just to see the people’s reaction to that. And then they kept trying to not have me be in their pictures, too. So then I think they were
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having you there infused this whole level of chaos to it, where it was like they couldn’t deal.
Yeah and they were super upset that I was ruining their pretty picture. Throughout this entire process my views shifted, I stopped seeing fiber and only saw people.
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maker furniture
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ADROIT
| spring 2016
Furniture for Makers by Makers Handmade wooden work-tables & studio wares for independent minds and makers by Feist Forest
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maker furniture
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ADROIT
| spring 2016
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maker furniture
The Cherry Wren is a collaboration with Miscellaneous Adventures. Inspired by our British feathered friend, a Wren, we've used native Cherry to turn and carve a functional studio companion to serve up snacks, such as seeds or chocolate eggs by the dozen.
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ADROIT
| spring 2016
Finished with Swedish Organic Cold Pressed Linseed Oil
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maker furniture
A life-long wooden work table for independent minds and makers. Each table is handmade in small batches of six using home-grown British hardwood, Ash.
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ADROIT
| spring 2016
Smaller than usual, this is our little 'nugget' at just one metre in length. And just one available.
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maker furniture
Feist Forest is based in an old tin tabernacle in Devon, UK. Together, albeit in different locations, we make wooden work tables to bring independent minds, skills and positive ideas together.
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ADROIT
| spring 2016
A wooden table with creativity and nature at its core. Not factory-made but handcrafted, one at a time, in the UK. A table for the vagabonds, dreamers and makers who courageously make great ideas happen.
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ADROIT tanya aguinia
www.adroit.com
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Summer Edition: Brighten Your Outlook
Volume Number 3
jo davies
crazy for color
let it blow
Visiting Artist
Designer Gardens
Modern Glass Blowing
ADROIT
| spring 2016