OCA student

I hate seeing the notice 'Do not touch' you immediately want to touch don't you.  There was a good exhibition at the Walker back in 2006  'A Passion for Fashion: a Liverpool's lady's wardrobe' showing the wardrobe of Mrs Tinne from 1910-1940 and although you could get reasonably close my fingers where itching to examine them closely especially to see how they had been made. 

I can understand if a textile is delicate, from antiquity or valuable not being able to touch.  I can't remember were I read it but when experts use gloves because the oils on your hands are supposed to be damaging that the gloves can be just as damaging because they can leave threads behind.  

As Sarah says it will be something that I will take into account if I ever have the opportunity to exhibit. 

Ernesto Neto is another artist who encourages viewers as participants. "I want people to see my sculpture through their pores, as well as their eyes, to feel it with all their senses."  He invites viewers "to caress, manipulate, enter, or wear his multimedia sculptures", which may include use of sounds and scents. (quotes from Fiber: Sculpture 1960-present)

It's not just textiles that curators don't want you to touch, but I went once to an exhibition of book art work, and there was a box of disposable gloves (the surgical sort) so that you could touch and turn pages, etc. Albeit under the eyes of an adjacent member of the museum staff.

Wilson’s work is fascinating, but I wonder if I would feel the need to touch – she uses many of  the ingredients for making cloth (thread, pins, tangled fibres) but my desire to touch textiles is, I think, only for the completed woven cloth.  With this thought in mind, what I particularly like are her Dispersions pieces at http://www.annewilsonartist.com/images-dispersions.html  I love the patterning of the damask background and the close stitches around the circular perforations.  What I am slightly uncomfortable with is the thought of stitching with hair, which is used here.  But maybe that says something about me and my history/memories/personal associations rather than it does about this material? 

This is why, Annette, I personally find it hard to alter old textiles.  Many people will cut them, dye them, stitch over them.  I find I cannot do this, certainly if it is a hand-made article.  I have a number of pieces of hand-embroidered cloth, mostly small pieces, and I get them out every now and then and look and feel them and then put them away again.  I have some quilt blocks made in the US in the 19th century which I bought with the idea of stitching them to make a quilt top but I cannot bring myself to do this.  The tiny stitches and choice of cloth tell a small part of someone's story - the rest is totally unknown and will always remain unknown.  It is a historical textile and I feel I do not have the right to alter it. 

Kath, I am interested in your idea that energy/atoms are possibly transferred into fabric... I create Remembrance Bears as a career and when I unwrap a parcel I immediately have a feeling about the enclosed fabric (which is mostly the clothing of a person who has passed) This has nothing to do with the type of fabric, I can receive two separate sweaters from separate customers, the sweaters will be made of the same fabric but one I may feel drawn to, to the point where I long to cuddle the finished bear! And the other I can feel totally disconnected from. I've wondered why this could be? Your theory would sit well with this.

Sandra, the mini textile exhibition looks really interesting. I have only started studying textiles this week so am completely unqualified/unable to even consider entering but I'm really keen to see what kind of entries are submitted. I feel that I may have a particular interest in the relationship between textiles and memories (probably because of the job that I do), would you have any pointers relating to this area at all please?

Thank you, Karen