Based on the artists statement, the dog rugs are intended to be unnerving and succeed admirably. Unsurprisingly, the dog rugs appear to be the only collection that merited a statement.
But instead of taking flesh and taming it, my dog rugs take the homespun technique of rug hooking and use it to create likenesses that, while tender and vulnerable, are also a little unnerving. The rug dogs are sleeping, but, because of their resemblance to animal skin rugs, they could also appear to be dead.
So they are art pieces, not craft. So they are deliberately a bit off, rather than an artisan making rugs that sadly miss the mark.
No thanks.
Each to their own, I quite like the mix of macabre narrative and craft.
I found most of the rest less disturbing. The sandwich boards and busy body samplers weren’t even macabre or vaguely unnerving. The other pieces that were didn’t make me sad the way the dog rugs did.
The dog rugs bother me less now that I know they are art and not just housewares intended to be cute. Part of my discomfort was thinking that here was a creator who was obviously very intimate with pups but didn’t see how the rugs could be disturbing. It isn’t quite as sad if the intent was, in large part, disturbing.
Kinda more my vibe (the rug, not all the beige-ness surrounding it):
Nice! But a trip hazard.
Oh it’s hella trip hazard, and looks to be very difficult to clean, even in a household with no pets, no kids, or is not constantly under construction / renovation like ours is.
But.
Kinda cool in a Björk Biophilia way.
If I were living in a heavily urbanized area, with low to no greenspace nearby, I’d be tempted. And I’d make it out of wool scraps and second cuts. And I’d have more spare time. And I’d start by designing pieces based on the last two watersheds I’ve lived in, and do those using ArcGIS and some kind of fiber-friendly textiles-patterning program.
Maybe it should go on a wall? A dust trap for sure. I recall a soft fibre sculpture at the Toronto Reference Library that was covered in dust and cobwebs. I think it was eventually taken down.
It really pulls the room together.
It’s missing some Chinese takeout sauce packets, a tube of 95% dried out superglue, some paperclips and safety pins, and 3 brass keys to locks that no one remembers the location of. And dog hair.
It’s missing the collection of mystery cables and chargers you have no idea what they go to.
No, no… that was* it’s own drawer.
*until the cat micturated into it. Then someone asks “can we get another cat?”
It’s missing whatever it is that keeps popping up and getting lodged in place, preventing me from opening the junk drawer more than a couple of inches (luckily it’s usually still enough space to put additional items into the junk drawer).
Needs twist ties, but it’s a good start.
And Sharpies!
I’m missing the Chinese soy sauce packets, but we have two unbelievably small drawers:
To be fair, I just cleaned out the drawers about four months ago.
I see I’m missing a few items; I should add them to my list; , masking tape, screen fastener(although I do have screw in cup hooks), screw heads and a few other things.