TEXTILES
WOOD
We live in a society that takes clothing and household fabrics for granted, but production of these items used to be a necessary domestic task. Some people even made their own fabrics as well as the goods crafted from them. Quilting is still a recognized art form in our region, and knitting is making a comeback as a hobby. But other handcrafts – making sawdust dolls, weaving, or carding and spinning wool – are becoming forgotten arts.
Your Challenge: Choose a textile art and create a sample demonstrating both your mastery of technique and your understanding of how it would have been used historically. Your exhibit must be able to be displayed on a 2 x 3 foot table.
Submit a 1-minute video in MP4 format explaining your technique and inspiration. Do NOT include your name or the name of your school. This information will be included on the entry form. Submit a photo of your project in JPEG format and no larger than 5 MB in size. Tip: For best results, use a well-lit area, set your phone to HD mode (when possible), and keep your image squared.
Wood has long been a means of expressing and enabling the human relationship with the natural world. Fishermen have woven traps to catch fish. Small game hunters have used similar basketry techniques to build live traps. Wildfowl hunters have depended for their success on the realism of hand-crafted decoys. Beyond mere survival, however, wood has taken a special place in homes and in community spaces, serving to remind, inspire, and protect.
Your Challenge: Experiment with either wood carving or basketry to produce an artifact that resembles those produced in the Ark-La-Tex at a specific historic moment. You might, for instance, investigate Caddo tribal artifacts and model your own work on theirs. You might build and test your own fish trap. Or you might try carving a Louisiana black bear or another animal indigenous to the Ark- La-Tex. Your exhibit must be able to be displayed on a 2 x 3 foot table and must be no more than 3 feet tall.
Submit a 1-minute video in MP4 format explaining your technique and inspiration. Do NOT include your name or the name of your school. This information will be included on the entry form. Submit a photo of your project in JPEG format and no larger than 5 MB in size. Tip: For best results, use a well-lit area, set your phone to HD mode (when possible), and keep your image squared.