Thursday, May 1, 2014

Not To Know But To Go On

     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
    Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013 
    66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
    Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                       Photo:  Klaus Rossler
    Part of the Mended World exhibition
     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
     Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013
     full view on 50 foot wall, part of Mended World exhibition
     66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
     Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                        Photo:  Klaus Rossler
      Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
Installation Art Gallery of Sudbury, January 19 – March 2, 2014  (detail)
66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
Technique: couching by hand.                                               Photo:  Judy Martin
Included in the Mended World exhibition
Not to Know But To Go On is based on the private, daily ritual of writing a diary.  It also
refers to the Finnish rag rugs of Judy Martin's cultural heritage, but is stitched, not woven. 

For exactly three years the artist maintained a daily practice of couching strips of found 
fabric to canvas with one complete skein of cotton embroidery floss.  Because we do not 
know what each day will bring, the day’s thread was selected with eyes closed. Over one
thousand days were thus lived through and marked. 

Not just memories, but dreams and plans for the future are held within the work, and not just from that day when it was created, but also new ones. The combination of simplicity and subtle human touch transports us into an inner world of dream and self-knowledge.
Exhibition record

This piece is an important part of the Mended World exhibition.  This exhibition has been mounted in three public art galleries in Ontario, Canada. 
Thunder Bay Art Gallery:  September 13 - October 27, 2013
Art Gallery of Sudbury.  January 19 - March 2, 2014

As well, Not To Know But To Go On was exhibited as a solo exhibition as part of the 
World of Threads festival, Oakville Ontario :  November 1 - November 30, 2014.  The World of Threads installation was from the ceiling - shown below.

Not To Know But To Go On was most recently exhibited July 12 - August 9 2018 at the Mary E Black Gallery in Halifax Nova Scotia as part of the exhibition Cloth of Time, a Two person exhibition with Penny Berens and Judy Martin.  For that exhibition, it hung in the centre of the gallery space, from the ceiling.  

There is a poem-booklet entitled Not To Know But To Go On available from the artist.

In 2019- 2023 Not To Know But To Go On toured the USA in the SAQA organized exhibition, 3-D Expressions.  The works in this exhibition were selected by Bruce Hoffman.  Venues included: