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Ýr Jóhannsdóttir
Sweater with everything, for everyone
In this project I reflect on my experience and the interplay between my roles as a textile designer, artist, and teacher, in which I use the method of action-research.
The base of the research is the project Sweater with everything, for everyone (Peysa með öllu, fyrir alla). During this project I worked in an open studio setting and taught workshops at The Museum of Design and Applied Arts in Iceland, the project took place in January until June 2021.
The aim of this essay is to consider the importance of teaching, communication, and open conversation when it comes to sustainable approaches in textile production and consumption. Our modern consumption of textiles and the industry that accompanies it is the starting point in the implementation of the project. In the open studio, and at the workshops, we worked with unsellable material from the clothing collection of the Red Cross in Iceland and increased their lifespan.
In the first chapter of the essay, I review my relationship with textiles, both in my personal life and in my work as a textile designer. There I reflect on experiences in my studies and work, as I look at the process that led me to expand my work into teaching.
In the second chapter of the essay, I address the problem that accompanies modern textile production. There I go over the effects of the production process, our time together with our clothes and where it ends up after our time together. In this chapter I look at solutions such as clothing repair workshops, and how the approach of community-based art and social constructivism was used in organizing the workshops. I also reflect on the choice of materials in textile teaching in the school system in Iceland, and the importance of implementing the use of secondhand textiles.
In the final chapter of the essay I reflect on the period at The Museum of Design and Applied Arts, how I organized the open studio and the creative clothing repair workshops. Through the period of the project, I kept a research diary and took various photographs of the process and actions at the workshops, which I rely on in my reflection.
The results of the study highlight the importance of sharing knowledge and how the role of the teacher can increase value and potential of the work I do as a designer and artist.
