When working with living artists, one never knows exactly what to expect. This was the case with the

When working with living artists, one never knows exactly what to expect. This was the case with the recent installation of Cecilia Vicuña’s Disappeared Quipus, where registrars, preparators, conservators, and other museum professionals became the artist’s assistants to create fifty two, thirty-five-foot long monumental knotted-wool strands.These strands or quipu, refer to the ancient Inca objects that used knotted cords to record information. Despite much interest and research, these objects remain mysterious and many from the museum’s collection will be exhibited alongside Vicuña’s site-specific installation.For this installation, the process of creating a single quipu starts with delicately unraveling rolls of carded wool. Unlike yarn which is spun together, carded wool has nothing binding it together and therefore it cannot be pulled or stretched. Once unrolled from its tight bushels, it becomes long blankets of cloud-like fluff. These blankets are then separated into thinner strips and any holes created in the unrolling process are felted back together.The wool strips are then folded around a 35’ long cotton rope stretched down their centers. The rope is what supports the quipu when suspended from the ceiling, so each end is tied with a whipping knot to prevent fraying. To create the all-important knots, a dance takes place that involves moving over and under different segments of the strand. In this way, each assistant’s body participates in the creation of a single knot (see main image).The quipu are then installed one-at-a-time using a scissor lift.In working with Cecilia Vicuña on this installation, museum staff turned artist assistants learn to prepare wool, whip knot, and felt. We also danced barefoot with the artist in her quipu knotting performance. So again, you never know what experiences a seemingly simple installation may bring.Disappeared Quipus can be seen on the first floor’s great hall from May 18th – November 25th. The artist’s first gallery exhibition at Lehmann Maupin in Chelsea opens Saturday, May 19th at their 22nd street location. Other incantations of the artist’s site-specific installations were included in Documenta 14 in Kassel and at the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans.Posted by Sasha Drosdick -- source link

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