Weave-o-rama is a place where people can have fun creating a collective artwork and aims to give the public the opportunity to experiment with materials and showcase their creativity through the act of weaving. With the main structure built from recycled timber, old rubber bike inner tubes, and recycled tyres the weave-o-rama focuses on re-purposing materials in exciting and innovative ways. Peopl
e are invited to bring along recycled and found materials to weave and create the artwork. This project would not have been made possible without the amazing support of Gap Filler who helped with project planning, sourcing timber, steel and fixings, construction and publicity. Life in Vacant Spaces who helped to secure the site, Greening the Rubble for co-sitting with this project, Steel and Tube, Canterbury Museum, local bicycle shops throughout the city for donating their old bicycle inner tubes and Simon Guernsey who helped with the installation. And a huge thanks to all the fantastic volunteers; Caitlin Miller, Viv Homewood, Hebe Hope, Zoe Trueman-Hunt, Bernard Hutchinson, Gloria Hutchinson, Alena Woo, Noel Guilfoyle, Ian Johnson, who have provided their time, skills and advice to the project. Weave-o-rama will be constructed on the corner of Colombo and Gloucester Street during December 2013 and stay on-site for the duration of the summer. Catering to all ages, old and young, don’t miss the chance to come down with you family and friends to check it out and get involved! Workshops will be held on site during January see GAP Filler or Weave-o-rama page for more details. Project Background:
The concept for the Weave-o-rama, was created by local designer Hannah Hutchinson who has just completed a bachelor of Design Textile (Honours) at Massey University, Wellington. The idea for the Weave-o-rama came from a research proposal investigating the repurposing of waste materials by using textile processes. The project explores how the construction of a 3D form can be utilized to activate vacant spaces, and how these structures strengthen community connections by enabling people to engage together as they interact with the 3D forms. Weaving is a simple and easy skill to learn and was chosen as the core textile process to centre the installation on due to its simplicity of and ease of skill for the public to learn quickly. Weaving is a method of interlinking and connecting yarns together as to create a surface. This will hopefully translate through to how individuals can be linked together and back into the site and the fabric of our city. The installation is envisioned to provide opportunities to create a stronger sense of community whilst people work together to create a tactile art piece. The installation also highlights the importance of ‘temporary’ projects with in Christchurch post-earthquake. During the time-span of the project the frame and warps will remain constant but what people create is only temporary and can be deconstructed and rebuilt at any point during the course of the activation. The opportunity to see what the public can create with given and found materials is unpredictable and exciting.
