In October/November 2015, The Weaving Mill took a three-week research trip visiting arts organizations, mills, artist’s studios and friends. This trip was about situating TWM within the larger context of the domestic textile industry, understanding the potential of our own workshop and meeting the people who do parallel work. Pulling from field notes, personal memory, photography and drawings, the work in Floorplans, Models, Souvenirs is a distillation of the places, people and material encountered on this trip.

In chronological/geographical order, sites included: Rowland Ricketts (Bloomington IN), South Union Shaker Village (Auburn KY), Shutters and Shuttles (Nashville TN), Brit Hessler (Nashville TN), Alabama Chanin (Florence AL), Rural Studio (Newbern AL), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg TN), Echoview Fiber Mill (Weaverville NC). Oriole Mill (Hendersonville NC), Valdese Weavers (Valdese NC), Black Mountain College Museum (Asheville NC), Center for Craft Creativity and Design (Asheville NC), Penland School of Crafts (Penland NC), White Oak Denim Mills (Greensboro NC), Cestari Fiber Farm (Churchville VA), The Textile Museum (Washington DC), J.G. Littlewood and Sons Stock Dyers (Philadelphia PA), Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia PA), Langhorne Carpet Company (Penndel PA), Churchville Fabrics and SMS Auto (Philadelphia PA), Thistle Hill Weavers (Cherry Valley NY), MTL (Jessup PA).

Wheaton College /  Wheaton IL / September 2016

Floorplan documents the machines, processes and physical environment of The Weaving Mill. Shot over the course of a weekend, the video focuses on the mechanics, sounds and human interfaces of the textile machinery. The companion fabric is a material manifestation of the processes documented in the video, bringing an artifact of the factory into the gallery.

Floorplan , 2016

Direction/Editing: Julia Dratel

Photography: Julia Dratel and Peter Damm

Sound: Andrew Clinkman

Jumpsuits: Rational Dress Society