The Spinning Room, Salts Mill |
The room seems to have been left as it was, apart from the removal of the machinery, with the paint peeling and flaking off - the room is in many ways part of the exhibition. There are no windows in the side walls, just ventilation openings, but it is lit by the skylights all the way along. So the weather outside also plays a part - I was told that on a sunny day, the exhibits look very different. But both days I was there were very dull (in fact, it was raining last Saturday).
Built into the walls are a series of bins for storing the spools for yarn (I think). A couple of the artists had used the bins for their pieces. Caren Garfen based her piece on the women recorded in Saltaire in the 1891 census. Many of the single women were working in the mill, while the married women were just listed as 'Wife'.
Hannah Leighton-Boyce had fitted a camera obscura into several of the ventilators. (I don't know the plural of camera obscura - can you tell?)
Hannah Leighton-Boyce, Camera Obscura |
Koji Takaki |
Koji Takaki - detail |
But the most stunning piece was by Yoriko Yoneyama. A fine web of cotton threads, each with an individual grain of rice stuck to it every few inches (by the natural stickiness of cooked rice before it dries out).
Yoriko Yoneyama |
It's beautiful, and astonishing to think of the effort required to construct it.
Altogether the exhibition was well worth seeing. And if you didn't see it, now you have an idea of what you missed.
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