Elissa Auther- String, Felt, Thread:
The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art
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Written in 2010, this book is an overview of the hierarchy of craft and art in the contemporary art movement. Auther focuses on three groups who worked with textiles in the contemporary art world: fiber artists, process artists, and radical feminist artists who used craft to make statements about gender. All of these artists interacted in complex ways with craftspeople who chose not to, or were not able to, participate in the world of high art. This book is a shrewd, fair look at the politics of the art world and how various textile artists navigated them.
Elizabeth Wayland Barber, PhD. Women's Work - the First 20, 000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times.
This book is a comprehensive overview of the archaeology and traceable history of women's textiles. Barber uses creative, boundary-breaking research methodologies, like experimenting with weaving herself to figure out patterns and using linguistics to track evidence of fibers in culture. Though it is densely historical, the book often reads like a novel, with Barber taking the reader on a journey around the ancient world to find fascinating examples of women's craft practice.
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Fray: Art and Textile Politics
This book points out the radical disruptive potential of craft practice, exploring the politics of the art world and emphasizing the creative possibility of community space.
Anni Albers, On Weaving
One of the leading makers and thinkers on contemporary craft in the art world, Anni Albers offers valuable insight into her creative practice and role contemporary art.
Beverly Gordon, Textiles: The Whole Story: Uses, Meanings, Significance
This text is a comprehensive overview of global craft practice. It covers an intense amount of ground, seeking out common threads of making and meaning that span across time and space. Vibrant photos and countless examples make for a rich look into both the universality and diversity of textiles.
Anthea Callen, Women Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, 1870-1914
This book offers a comprehensive review of the various artistic practices that have been historically dominated by women.
Chloé Braunstein-Kriegel and Fabien Petiot, Crafts: Today's Anthology for Tomorrow's Crafts
This is a comprehensive anthology that sources essays from a wide variety of sources that discusses many of the more complex social and political aspects of craft. It situates craft in conversations about the global economy and the human experience.
Articles:
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Susan Kuchera, “The Weavers and Their Information Webs: Steganography in the Textile Arts.”
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Aram Han Sifuentes, et al. “Unsettling Coloniality: A Critical and Radical Fiber/Textile Bibliography.”