Pattern Language for a Social Fabric

September 11, 2017 by Todd Easter

Showing through October.

“Pattern Language for a Social Fabric” is an experiment in open-printing and artistic collaboration. The process was intended to develop a creative practice that eliminated any possibility of isolating singular contributions within a collaborative whole, while simultaneously allowing artists to engage the work as primary creators.

In the summer of 2016, images were collected from a network of community members and burned into screens. Open-printing sessions were held at 1708 Gallery, where the public joined the artists in printing on large pieces of paper, learned the basics of screen printing, and viewed the partially finished works on the gallery walls. As images were repeated and layered upon one another, an intricate and impossible-to-predict social fabric emerged, offering a poetic and abstract window into a collective psyche.

The collective continues to experiment and collaborate on new work at Studio Two Three.

Project Coordinators:

Brooke Inman, Adjunct Faculty in Painting and Printmaking at VCU

Molly Fair

Jesse Goldstein, Assistant Professor of Sociology at VCU

Andrea Kohashi, Teaching and Learning Librarian in Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library at VCU

“Pattern Language for a Social Fabric” was prepared and printed by the following, including many VCU students, alumni, staff and faculty:

Amanda Austin
Savannah Ball
Dakota Becker
Chelsea Clarke
Rupneet Kaur
RM Livingston
Izzy Pezzulo
Charlotte Rodenberg
Lizzy Servito
Anthony Sudol
Josie Tillman

Special thanks go to 1708 Gallery, Plaza Art, Speedball, and to everyone in our community who dedicated their time to this project. These individuals include:
Lucy Aiken, Sandhya Kiran Chiluvuri, Ben Copolillo, Jamie Douglas, Madilynn Forgione, Gavin Foster, Jacob Green, Devin Harclerode, Charlie Heebner, Von Hemert, Emily Herr, Aimee Joyaux, Katie Loesel, David More, Linda Moses, Nathaniel Parsons, Kass Patselas, Roger Peet, Tariye Phillips, Mark Price, Josh Rodenberg , Claire Schoen, Matthew Shelton, Emily Smith, Tanja Softic, Crystal Stokowski, Cosima Storz, Jody Symula, Daniel Torraca, Deborah Weidrick, Erin Willett, Zoe Williamson, Aprille Zammit, Hillary Zell, Claire Zitzow

Categories Alumni Work, Faculty Work, Students