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Art Form -- Artefact ART FORM -- ARTEFACT A theoretical evaluation of the textile medium, its history and current use in Australian art and culture by Belinda Wright B.Ed .., B.F.A. (Hons) Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts University of Tasmania September 2003 This thesis contains no material that has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgment is made in the text of the thesis. Signed:~ L-0~ This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 Signed: ~ ~(]°' Date: % 'S.e_p \- ~c3 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the following people: Dr Deborah Malor, Theory Program/Honours and Postgraduate Coordinator, School of Visual & Performing Arts, University of Tasmania; Dr Ian McLean, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture and Fine Art, 'University of Western Australia; staff and postgraduate students of the School of Visual & Performing Arts, especially Professor Vincent McGrath and Edna Broad, MFA; the organisers of Shift 98, National Contemporary Textile Symposium, Canberra School of Art; all those artists who took the time and trouble to complete and return the questionnaire; Jane Emery for her patient and careful editorial help and advice and finally my husband and children who have, with love, constantly encouraged and supported my academic endeavours. Abstract My thesis explores the role of textile both as a medium in contemporary art practice and, historically, as an Australian social and cultural artefact. I argue that textile is intimately associated with the creation and maintenance of identity. As such, textile may be theorised as a technique of power within our social and political system. The thesis proposes a theory of power, based upon the theories of social scientist, Kenneth Boulding, and philosopher, Michel Foucault. A notion of power that is integrative, that inspires complicity on the basis of a common and ultimately rewarding identity, provides a fruitful context for the consideration of textile, a medium associated with both public and private spaces. I examine the uses of textile in social, religious, political and ceremonial systems (flags, banners, religious vestments and military regalia) as well as evaluating its traditionally recognised place as a domestic artefact. Within contemporary art practice and theory, identity is a current issue. To a considerable extent this is a result of feminist theory and philosophy, which is firmly rooted in an analysis of contemporary society and the construction of identity within it. I explore the impact of feminist theory and its interaction with the textile arts, especially during the final quarter of the twentieth century. I consider in some depth the concept of space and place and its division into areas designated as public and private, as these ideas impact profoundly upon the issue of identity. I examine the history of textile practice in Australia, by considering museum collections as well as historical examples of work made by embroiderers and lace makers, textile designers and makers of ceremonial and religious textile pieces. I consider its use as a cultural and political voice through banners, as used, for instance, by trade unions. Following on from this, I look at the inspirations of Australian textile artists and survey the effect of art galleries and their collecting policies on contemporary Australian textile art practice. The art/craft debate is revisited before examining the history and role of the Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial. The Biennial is discussed in tandem with an analysis of artist responses received to a questionnaire that I designed specifically for use in this thesis. Current developments in the Biennial and the questionnaire data are used as the barometer of Australian contemporary textile art development. In summary, the thesis addresses the historical association of textile with issues of identity and power, and considers the ways in which contemporary artists work with the textile medium in the light of such associations. Table of Contents Page Introduction i - viii Chapter One What the Feminist Wore 1 Chapter Two The Public/Private Dichotomy 19 Chapter Three The Nature of Power 34 Chapter Four Textile ii:i, Australian History 56 Chapter Five Banners into Art 76 Chapter Six Textile as Art and the Craft of Critical Debate 87 Chapter Seven Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial 101 Chapter Eight Artists and the Textile Tradition 131 Chapter Nine In Conclusion 147 Bibliography 155 APPENDICES Included as a separate volume Appendix 1 Questionnaire: Procedure and Rationale Appendix 2 Artist Questionnaire Appendix 3 Questionnaire Results Appendix 4 Questionnaire Analysis INTRODUCTION Eureka Flag, 1854s Collection of the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery INTRODUCTION A major component of material culture, textiles may be viewed as the products of technology, as cultural symbols, as works of art, and as items of trade. Indeed, the textile arts represent a fundamental human activity, as well as expressing symbolically much that is of value in any society .1 Jennifer Harris This thesis is an exploration of Australian textile art as it relates to the incidence of textile within the wider Australian society and culture, an investigation of its language and concerns in social, political and cultural terms. At this point I must emphasise that, although in the contemporary arts there is a close relationship between 'textile' and 'fibre', for my purposes, 'textile' is cloth and 'fibre' is plant-related or organic material.2 My main focus is textile. In considering textile art and its relationship with Australian culture I have undertaken an analysis of both in the light of some influential contemporary philosophical theory. As a result of their concentrated preoccupation with the concept of representation, Elizabeth Grosz posits the importance of contemporary French theprists for the visual arts in the following terms: Very often, their interests are not those of the art history specialist, but are preoccupied with the question of the relations between representations and cultural, social and political contexts and strategies. While such theory is certainly not necessary to, and often not even very useful, m the production or evaluation of art, nonetheless theory enables signifiqmt 1 J. Harris (ed.), 5000 Years of Textiles, British Museum Press, London, 1993, p.13. 2 See also Chapter Seven of this thesis. 1 political and social questions about modes of representation to be posed in ways that might be helpful for those interested in the politics of art.3 Since I am interested in the politics of art, and since I will argue the particularly political nature of the textile medium, the theories of Foucault, Derrida, Irigaray and Kristeva have been relevant to my research. My aim is to develop a broad perspective that may be useful in the analysis of contemporary Australian art, which uses the medium of textile. This aim arose from my concern about an apparently single-minded characterisation of textile as predominantly a feminine interest and pursuit, and was further prompted by my interest in Western ceremonial textile - flags, banners, religious vestments etc. I began to consider the role such textile plays in our society. I began to wonder about its impact upon both men and women. What role do women play in the its development? What is the relationship between men and women, textile and ceremony in Australian society? Is it possible to analyse this relationship constructively rather than simply decrying a Western patriarchal society of which, arguably, Australia forms part? Cultural and social analysis in Western philosophy has been constructed around a system of hegemonic dichotomies or binary oppositions which have served to structure theory about social organisation and, thus, to structure social organisation itself. The oppositions include male/female, public/private, reason/emotion and independence/dependence. The first element in each pair has traditionally been considered in a positive light and the second carries negative connotations. In a dichotomy that is a foundation of the structure of power relations, the first element is more highly valued than the second.4 Discussion about textile has mirrored this kind of dichotomy in that it has been based upon a similar 3 E. Grosz, 'Feminist theory and the politics of art', in Dissonance: Feminism and the Arts 1970-1990, ed. C. Moore, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1994, p.139. 4 S. James, 'The good-enough citizen: female citizenship and independence', in Beyond Equality and Difference: Feminist Politics and Female Subjectivity, eds G. Bock, & S. James, Routledge, London, 1992, p. 48. James writes of: liberal theory as built around a set of complementary dichotomies. Dominatmg these 1s an opposition between public and private. This is variously interpreted, but at least encompasses the divide between the overtly political institutions of society and the domestic sphere of the home and family. It is supported by a series of polarities between equality and difference, reason and emotion, man and woman, disinterest and ihterest, impartiality and partiality, independence and dependence. The first terms of these pairs characterize the public sphere,
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