Crochet Coral Reef

“Crochet Coral Reef: Toxic Seas” by Margaret and Christine Wertheim fuses feminist art practices, mathematics and craft to address enviromental threat to ocean life.

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) presents “Crochet Coral Reef: Toxic Seas”. The exhibition is part of MAD Transformations, the museum’s fall exhibition series showcasing artists who have rethought and continue to reshape perceptions of traditional craft media.

Crochet Coral Reef is an ongoing project by Margaret and Christine Wertheim and their Los Angeles–based organization, the Institute For Figuring (IFF), which addresses environmental threats to marine life through an ever-evolving handcrafted artificial ecology.

Using the algorithmic codes of crochet, the sisters produce crenellated forms representing hyperbolic geometry, which is also manifest in the undulating structures of corals, kelps, and other reef organisms.

“The exhibition is a community-centered project that builds on the feminist tradition of using craft in the service of activism. Fiber, particularly knitting and crocheting, is often central to this practice because of its traditionally gendered affiliation with woman’s work” said De Tillio.

Institute For Figuring, <i>Crochet Coral Reef</i> project, 2005–ongoing. Photo courtesy of the Institute For Figuring — Institute For Figuring, Crochet Coral Reef project, 2005–ongoing. Photo courtesy of the Institute For Figuring

until 22 January 2017
Crochet Coral Reef: Toxic Seas
curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim – Institute For Figuring
The Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Cir, New York

Crochet Coral Reef

“Crochet Coral Reef: Toxic Seas” by Margaret and Christine Wertheim fuses feminist art practices, mathematics and craft to address enviromental threat to ocean life.

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