Train Spinning, 2016
Site Responsive Performance New York City Subway
The train itself is a modern advancement in technology that gets us from point A to point B faster than ever before, but it is still not fast enough. We are constantly striving for a faster commute, faster service, faster internet, fast consumption.
Spinning yarn with a drop spindle is the most time consuming way to create yarn. Eery strand is uniquely its own and impossible to replicate. The act of spinning yarn in the midst of a hyper technological contemporary environment emphasizes how drastically our culture has changed and how separated we are from our sense of touch.
I had already begun spinning on the train out of instinct, so I decided to dedicate a year (365 days) to looking at this in a deeper way. During this time, I spun while on the train, notated everywhere I went and then made drawings mapping my travels. The spinning activated my sense of touch and kept me feeling present in my body in a space where that seemed impossible.