New Exhibit Asks Us to Slow Down and Think About the Materials We Use ...

“Material Intelligence” is a new exhibit at the Ruth Davis Design Gallery on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus, which explores humanity’s interaction with physical space. Artists and craftspeople at the UW Center for Design and Material Culture have produced this new collection which focuses on natural fibers and glass, two materials with a long history in both industry and art.

The glass exhibit, Spheres of Influence: Glass Across UW “celebrates the embodied skills of glassmakers who make possible the imaginations of researchers across the arts and sciences.” The natural fibers exhibit, Threads: Natural Fiber and Living Lines, explores broader creative possibilities of these materials “not bound by a loom or a specific interpretative category.”

A third section of Material Intelligence is the Work in Progress (WIP) Lab, where visitors can play, experiment and have a personal experience with materials. Featured makers will also lead events on select Thursday afternoons, which include crocheting, knitting and basketry, among others.

Helen Lee and Sarah Anne Carter described to Monday Buzz host Brian Standing the pivotal role the UW has played in the history of glassmaking. They explained how the exhibit is intended to allow viewers to slow down and pay attention to the material world and to think about who creates and makes material objects we use every day.

Helen Lee is an Associate Professor of Glassworking and the Studio Faculty Director. Sarah Anne Carter is an Associate Professor of Design Studies and Executive Director of the Center for Design and Material Culture, in the UW School of Human Ecology.

The Material Intelligence exhibit runs through March 9th at the Ruth Davis Design Gallery, 1300 Linden Drive on the UW-Madison campus.  This Thursday, November 21, at noon, you can join curator Sarah Anne Carter for an in-person guided tour of the exhibit.  You can register for the tour at the CDMC website.

All photos courtesy Laura Sims Peck, University of Wisconsin.

Web posting by WORT producer Nicholas Wootton.

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