THE SURPLUS BADGE
The Surplus Badge by Artist A & Artist B, commissioned for the British Textile Biennial (29 September - 29 October 2023), Includes a participatory picnic filmed as part of an installation in the Family Dining Room at Towneley Hall in Burnley, Lancashire.
The eight artworks comprising the picnic are made from an ex-MOD cargo parachute cut down and reconstructed – including two large-scale dresses pegged into the ground. The work responds to the fast fashion theme of this year’s British Textile Biennial by providing an antidote to the built-in obsolescence of fashion by re-purposing and re-imagining uses for the surplus fabric of the de-commissioned parachute. Artist A & Artist B explore alternative uses for the parachute’s textile properties and details. The Surplus Badge draws upon the history of the Girl Guide movement in Lancashire to give visibility to youth groups championing the principles of environmental awareness and resourcefulness. One of the artworks was made by East Lancashire Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, at a workshop. The brigades will be the guests at the picnic to receive their limited edition “Surplus Badge” in recognition of their contribution. The artworks are constructed textiles and screen printed during Artist A & Artist B’s “Women in Print” Residency at Artlab Contemporary Print, Preston.
The Surplus Badge is part of an ongoing project entitled “Statement of Intent,” a series of open-ended, mobile, site responsive and performative artworks. The project is deliberately unresolved, continually expand- ing and open to change. Performance is often at the heart of the work, operating as a shared language and activating principle in the negotiation of materials and ideas and as a response to particular environments and contexts. The result is, at times, participatory, inviting the engagement of audiences and thematically revolving around exploring the idea of hospitality. The artwork mobilises the notion of a hospitable environment through shared experience and rethinking the function of everyday objects and domestic activity.
Artist A & Artist B is the collective name for Dr Jackie Haynes and Dr Heather Ross.
Images courtesy of Artist A & Artist B.
The British Textile Biennial will take place on 29 September - 29 October 2023. To find out more visit: britishtextilebiennial.co.uk
Read more about the legacy of the textile industry in Lancashire in Selvedge issue 114: Regeneration.
The eight artworks comprising the picnic are made from an ex-MOD cargo parachute cut down and reconstructed – including two large-scale dresses pegged into the ground. The work responds to the fast fashion theme of this year’s British Textile Biennial by providing an antidote to the built-in obsolescence of fashion by re-purposing and re-imagining uses for the surplus fabric of the de-commissioned parachute. Artist A & Artist B explore alternative uses for the parachute’s textile properties and details. The Surplus Badge draws upon the history of the Girl Guide movement in Lancashire to give visibility to youth groups championing the principles of environmental awareness and resourcefulness. One of the artworks was made by East Lancashire Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, at a workshop. The brigades will be the guests at the picnic to receive their limited edition “Surplus Badge” in recognition of their contribution. The artworks are constructed textiles and screen printed during Artist A & Artist B’s “Women in Print” Residency at Artlab Contemporary Print, Preston.
The Surplus Badge is part of an ongoing project entitled “Statement of Intent,” a series of open-ended, mobile, site responsive and performative artworks. The project is deliberately unresolved, continually expand- ing and open to change. Performance is often at the heart of the work, operating as a shared language and activating principle in the negotiation of materials and ideas and as a response to particular environments and contexts. The result is, at times, participatory, inviting the engagement of audiences and thematically revolving around exploring the idea of hospitality. The artwork mobilises the notion of a hospitable environment through shared experience and rethinking the function of everyday objects and domestic activity.
Artist A & Artist B is the collective name for Dr Jackie Haynes and Dr Heather Ross.
Images courtesy of Artist A & Artist B.
The British Textile Biennial will take place on 29 September - 29 October 2023. To find out more visit: britishtextilebiennial.co.uk
Read more about the legacy of the textile industry in Lancashire in Selvedge issue 114: Regeneration.