Due to a verrrry busy spring, we are completely behind on blog posts! Last November we were invited by Jenny Harp to be Visiting Artists at Sonoma State University. While we were there, we gave a lecture, held our first Spice Trade Potluck, offered another iteration of the Rhinoceros Reading Room, and held a sewing circle and a papermaking happening. All within two days!
We began with a lecture to students about the development of the project and how our ideas were evolving as we delved further into the constellation of ideas surrounding The Rhinoceros Project – colonialism, imperialism, habitat decimation, wonder, reconnecting with our bodies and the land, and the whole of the complexities of our time.
That evening, we hosted our first Spice Trade potluck. Durer’s Rhinoceros travelled to Lisbon via the newly discovered seafaring passage to and from India: down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, back up the eastern coast, and across the Indian Ocean. In 1497, Vasco da Gama set out in search of this route in order to cut out the middlemen in the Mediterranean who had exclusive control on the spice trade. Operating on orders from the same Portuguese king who received our Rhinoceros in 1515, da Gama found a direct path to the city of Calicut, also known as The City of Spices, giving Portugal a firm hold on the spice trade as well as a site for colonization and growing empire.
Above, roasting spices for our curry dish.
Below, a sneak peak at our Rhinoceros Reading Room installed at SSU - stayed tuned for an upcoming post!
We spent the next day in the printshop of the Sonoma State University Art Department.
The day consisted of a sewing circle and papermaking in the printshop. Participants were invited to make sheets of paper from pre-made watermarks - see below.
This watermark incorporates a pattern from Indian textiles. We will also be offering this watermark for sale on our “Support the Project” page soon!
It was a very chilly day for vats of pulp and wet hands!
Our friend CK Itamura came by the make paper and sew!
Sonoma, as well as Napa, Lake, and Mendocino Counties had recently been devastated by the 2017 North Bay fires. The struggles of the community were a part of the conversations around the sewing circle that day.
Below, art student Gio shares some amusing anecdotes while contributing stitches to the project.
As the day ended, we left wet papers drying on the windows of the printshop.
Below, the rhinoceros embroidery as of December 1, 2017.
