Tactile & Tactical- Harvard J-Term Intensive
In January, Maria Molteni and the NCAA were invited to teach a 5 day visual arts intensive at Arts @29 Garden as part of Harvard University’s January Term. NCAA Players Andrea Sherrill Evans and Taylor McVay each contributed visiting artist lectures and workshops. While they were not allowed to post photos of Harvard students, here are a couple of snaps of our cool space and some of the work that came out of the workshop. Read below for Molteni’s class description that wove together craft, art history, city planning, and community engagement!
The architecture of crochet. The philosophy behind a knit stitch. The influence of an American sport upon a world of marginalized urban communities. What may such conceptual vignettes share? Join Maria Molteni and the New Craft Artists in Action, a collective that crafts hand-made basketball nets for empty hoops across the globe, as they address cross-disciplinary practices and inquiries. We will investigate urban planning and recreation through the lense of Art and Craft, while cultivating a knowledge of modern philosophies in city planning and public space.
As we focus on opposing ideologies presented by Le Corbusier and Jane Jacobs in their respective texts Towards a New Architecture and Death and Life of Great American Cities we will embark on a tactile/tactical craftivist intervention, designing and constructing two basketball nets that emulate these schools of thought. After site visits to the Harvard’s Carpenter Center (the only US Le Corbusier) and the North End (Jacob’s ideal neighborhood), the fruits of our collaboration will be installed on empty hoops in the area and included in the upcoming Creative Time exhibition Living As Form. Ultimately we will address art-making as it may parallel the structured order of the Radiant City or organic diversity of an Urban Ecosystem.
