Japan is a world leader in fibre arts, with practitioners whose deep understanding of inherited materials and techniques has given them freedom to move beyond traditional utility to create innovative and beautiful works of art. "Fiber Futures" features some twenty-five artists, from seasoned veterans to relative newcomers. It examines such topics as the relationship between traditional and contemporary practice; the role of creators with a 'fine-art' orientation in appropriating, and sometimes helping to preserve, traditional craft technologies; the challenges and opportunities for handicraft technologies in an age of mass production; and issues of Japanese 'authenticity' versus globalism. This handsome book shows how the medium has advanced and diversified dramatically over the last decade and focuses on sculptural and installation works. The remarkable pieces are made of materials ranging from ethereal silk gauze through banana-bark and handmade paper to fine steel thread, synthetics and glass fibre, using methods that are sometimes deeply traditional, but sometimes employ the latest weaving and dyeing technology.
- ISBN10 0300175760
- ISBN13 9780300175769
- Publish Date 25 October 2011
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 17 June 2013
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 126
- Language English