Artist Statement
Over Here
"The horizon is not only an optical condition but also a spinning moment in space-time."
Steven Holl
This knitted web gives the viewer an opportunity to reflect on his/her position within the woodland area, the wood itself, and the surrounding landscape. It is a device for seeing. Walking alongside the piece and looking through the eye of the web, different elements come into the viewer's attention. Panoramas of distant views, perspectives of middle ground and foreground start to overlap highlighting an effect of 'parallax' created by the specific positioning of the piece. The knitting pattern incorporates the words 'over here', making a reference to the sights seen through the web. The knitted web thus becomes a map, a tool for orientation, containing specific information on its surrounding environment. The web is also a trap, its open lacy structure catching, filtering and refracting light, colours and sounds. Ultimately, the web will capture the essence of the place and become a spatial imprint of it.
A World Wide Web
(Temporary exhibit)
The components that make up this installation, inspired by 'Shetland lace'techniques, were initially commissioned by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York for the touring exhibition 'Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting'. A larger version of the piece was later commissioned by RMIT in Melbourne for Federation Square, and exhibited there earlier this year. A World Wide Web was designed to be installed in circulation or otherwise overlooked and redundant areas of museums and galleries in order to highlight new perspectives and angles of vision on specific features of these spaces observed through the holes in the webs. Each thread and stitched connection within the work is connected to another, and to the space, which determines its overall form and shape. A World Wide Web is literally moulded and shaped by its environment. It is reliant on its surroundings and the interior features of each venue give it a specific character. The meaning of the work lies in this: everything is connected to everything, and beauty is found in the detail, however insubstantial and ephemeral it may appear.
Biography
Shane Waltener's work draws inspiration from craft traditions as much as art history. Sculptures, installations and performance work all reference in some way domestic crafts such as knitting, crochet, lace making techniques, sugarcraft and cooking.
Recent projects by the artist have become increasingly participatory, involving artists, visitors, spectators and community groups in the making of the artworks. Waltener facilitates a process of 'crafting' together in order to allow for cultural and social histories relating to these crafts to be freely exchanged. The outcome of the work tells of these particular histories.
