In 2016, Fractured Atlas invited the NCAA to present our work on Capitol Hill! We exhibited our Net Works project at a Making in the Arts event hosted by the Congressional Maker Caucus + the S.T.E.A.M. Caucus. The event ran in Congress’ Rayburn House Office Building and included other great art initiatives, universities and collectives such as STEAM America, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. This happened the day before a national Transpacific Partnership (TPP) protest was scheduled in DC. We brought a little something for both. The full story is pasted below from our NCAA blog:
This week the New Craft Artists in Action descended upon our country’s Capitol. Invited by Fractured Atlas to present our work to the Congressional Maker Caucus, the NCAA participated in a “Making in the Arts” event in Washington, D.C. We were honored to be in the company of such organizations as the Congressional STEAM Caucus, National Endowment for the Arts among other great artists and DIY creative initiatives. Our newest team player Natalie Shields designed the cool poster for the event…
Below, see photos of our booth from the Maker Caucus event which included a presentation from the Caucus founder, Congressman Mark Takano, and a dunk test on one of our Net Works by Congressman Tim Ryan.
Our Capitol Hill debut came at a good time. Protests in resistance to the new Transpacific Partnership trade agreement took form on the Hill, across the country and the globe on February 4, when Obama signed the TPP to send it through Congress via Fast Track. The Congressional Maker Caucus and their monthly events focus on the makers movement and support innovative U.S. production in a time when much is outsourced to China. China is, however, excluded from the new TPP trade agreements which will include countries like Japan, Argentina, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Peru, and Brunei- many of which joined in protest. The TPP will very negatively affect many issues including workers rights and wages, climate change, sovereignty of nations, internet freedom, food safety, healthcare and financial regulation- prioritizing the interests of corporations over people. The TPP is described as having NAFTA’s problems, but on steroids.
In solidarity with the FLUSH THE TPP resistance and in support of the rights of citizens, particularly those who are working with their hands daily, the New Craft Artists in Action crafted a Net Work intervention to call attention to this very time sensitive issue. Using the fillet crochet technique, forming pixelated images in double-crocheted squares, NCAA players Taylor McVay (of Blueprints for Sewing) and Maria Molteni fabricated original “Flush the TPP” basketball nets. This phrase is the motto of the resistance movement, but it book on a double mean for us because when a player shoots a basketball and it sort of rolls around the rim before dropping through the net that’s called “Flushing the Toilet”.
One net was installed beside an active skate and graffiti park next to the “Capitalsaurus Court” playgrounds in Washington, DC. The 2nd net was installed on Buena Vista Avenue in Hampden, Baltimore where collective member Andrea Evans has resided since being appointed to teach at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Austin-based artist Tara Kirmse altered our official New Craft Artists in Action team jerseys, adding text from basketball terms- such as “Back Door Cut”, “Flagrant Foul”, and “Triple Threat”- that describe the behavior of unregulated corporations and Obama’s attempt to sneak the new trade deal through Fast Track.
The New Craft Artists in Action invite you to sniff out our new nets, dunk on the corporate lobby and FLUSH THAT TPP! PLEASE CALL YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES TO VOICE YOUR OPINION AND SIGN UP FOR NEWS VIA THE FLUSH THE TPP INITIATIVE. THIS MONTH IS CRITICAL FOR THE FUTURE.
