“Federe” is a site-specific installation, product of a long in-site research, expanding outwards from the industrial spaces of the wool mill “Lanificio Paoletti” to the small local society where it is found and furthermore to the natural landscape that surrounds it, the Dolomiti mountains, providing the raw wooll for the yarn and textiles that are being developed in the Lanificio, finally out to the global consumer.
In the center of this installation is the film “Federe”, a 15 minute short exploring the relationship between the industrial looms and the employees who operate them. The industrial machines’ humanity originates from the very fact that they are designed by humans. The employees by using them, although physically a solitary engagement , in parallel engage in social and spiritual interaction through the machinery, with its developers and with the society that they feed with actual products.
In the film, this move outwards happens through the intangible relationship between the machines and the sounds and music played by the local, historic Banda di Follina, the local city band originally formed by the very first employees of the Lanificio, e.s.t. 1795. This rhythm seems to be originating from inside the factory outwards in to the local society. Then even further outwards to the natural landscape of the Dolomiti mountains, the source of the raw material used, the Alpago wool. The animals and local shepherds “pastori” calls are the reference sounds for this step to the more macrocosmic point of view.
The music and sounds from the film also serve as a soundscape for the installation that houses the film
The installation occupies a dormant space in the factory, redefined architecturally through the use of large cubes made of compressed fabric left-overs. Abstract Grouppo Colle is an architectural installation consisting of these cubes of both raw and left over material from the production line, represented by the same voluminous form. These abstract cubes define the space and soft sculptures made of the same material provide seating areas across this architecture. Their detailed hand quilting nature serves to bring their delicate comfort in juxtaposition with the chaotic volume of waste product.
A fabric pattern was developed, inspired by geo-data collected through GPS, following local traditional sheep herding routes in the nearby Alpago area. This was used to create a piece for a flag/blanket using computerized jacquard loom technology. This element makes a comment on locality, the continuous transport of material and energy across the world and the possibilities of digital information to produce aesthetics.
A second computerized jacquard fabric was developed and used to sew a workers uniform. It’s pattern is a sound waveform , the digital visualization of the sounds produced by the Lanificio Pooletti’s looms.
Finally two tapestries were created , also serving as space dividers in the installation, using exclusively Lanificio Paoletti left over fabric. This gesture demonstrates the possibilities of this material that would otherwise go to waste . The shapes and symbols of the tapestries reference elements of the artists stay and research of the local history and culture.
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