Hunan embroidery is a representative of traditional craftsmanship. Manually extracting and sorting out the cultural genes of Hunan embroidery takes a lot of manpower and time, it need to adopt advanced technological ways for subsequent inheritance and development.
Today I have read two papers on the preservation and conversation of Hunan embroidery in the context of digitisation and Artificial intelligence. AI has already been used to preserve and utilise the unique stitches of Hunan embroidery, such as the excavation of historical and cultural genes, the research and establishment of a data base of Hunan embroidery stitches, the intelligent recognition of original Hunan embroidery paintings and stitch modelling, intelligent plate-making software and intelligent equipment technolog Synergy.
Pengmao stitch filling effect and physical picture (source: Hunan Normal University Hunan Embroidery Innovation and Research Centre)
On the other hand, there is also the video animation of Hunan embroidery as a display through video editing, providing a feasible path for the preservation, inheritance and innovation of Hunan embroidery culture in the digital era.
Video process editing of Can stitch (source: Hu Jing)
To sum up, regarding the way I currently want to get about the heritage and conservation of Hunan embroidery has already been done, I can consider whether to do the same in other aspects of heritage and conservation, as this direction is huge and time and energy consuming, considering the resources I currently have in the end only 1 month or so I may not have time to do the innovation. But this is a direction I can continue to dig deeper into after I graduate.
# AC Knowledge # AC Enquiry
Bibliography
Hu, J. 2019. Research on the digital conservation of Hunan embroidery hand stitching，CNKI.
Yang, L.2021. Under the Vision of Artificial Intelligence A study on the inheritance of disheveled needle, a representative gene of Hunan embroidery culture. CNKI.
For research on the traditional arts and crafts movement in China, I consulted the largest literature site in China, Zhiwang. Through my research, I found that China has not produced an Arts & Crafts movement like the British one due to the political system. In addition, in the early 20th century, the British Arts & Crafts movement was introduced directly to China through the writings, translations and articles of a number of Chinese artists, designers and cultural and artistic scholars. The introduction of these literary, artistic and cultural etc works complemented the spread and influence of the British Arts & Crafts movement in China.
Modern Chinese art and design was less influenced by the Western Arts & Crafts movement, i.e. it did not give rise to this movement, the modern design movement or trend of thought that countries such as Europe, America and Japan were influenced by.
Li jun Zheng
So can a similar movement be generated now in China? One could argue that this movement would have to be politically led, because in China only a government-led movement could really be generated on a large scale. The reasons why it is difficult to spread among the people are, firstly, limited funds, secondly, government control, thirdly, the lack of resources, etc.
# AC Knowledge
Bibliography
lu, Zq., 2014. The influence of the contemporary western arts and crafts movement the revibal of Chinese contemporary crafts. Contemporary handicraft,(01),24-31.
Zheng, Lj., 2012. Transmission and Impact of¨The Arts and Crafts Movement¨ in China in Early 20‘h Century. CSSCI, 128(5), pp.195-196.
The concept of interactivity in the visual arts became popular in the 1950s, as people realized that interactive art could serve as a bridge to connect artists and audiences in new ways.
What is a interactive installation?
According to the Tate Museum, digital art includes artworks that are either made using technology or shown in a digital format. Interactive art relies on audience participation. Thus, digital interactive installations showcase and activate a large physical space accompanied by mixed-media compositions, engaging viewers with responsive technology. In interactive art, it is presumed that the viewers will no longer be passive onlookers, and that they will be the ones to complete the purpose of an artwork or to participate in its realization, but it does not only aim to be physically appealing or intriguing, and it seeks for people’s interference instead.
Why I need make Chinese embroidery interactive installations?
Today, many artists have discovered technology as a new medium not only to create art, but to transform traditional artworks into innovative, immersive events.
Artists have long explored the use of technology in their craft, such as the utilization of lasers and video projection, in order to improve the quality of audiences’ interactive experiences, which means I’m dealing with creatures of emotionn, not dealing wih creatures of logic, if I could use these art form into Chinese embroidery.
As a tool and point of interest that promotes tradiontional handcraft education in younger generations.
Making a deeper impact on audiences through allowing personalized expression and the creation of memorable, poetic, and immersive experiences.
How to make interactive installation
The four components that make a work a form of digital art installation
Art work
Audience
Artist
Environment
Interactions in a Digital Art installation. Source: Research Gate
In addition to the four components of digital art installations, there are four categories in which these artworks can be placed:
Static (The category static describes works wherein the art object is mostly static and does not adapt itself to the context. In other words, there is no interaction between the audience and the artwork).
Dynamic passive (Dynamic passive describes when the artwork remains inactive in response to audience interaction, but changes with time).
Dynamic interactive (In dynamic interactive artwork, audiences play an active role and are given the ability to change the artwork when interacting with it).
Artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects, web and print graphic designers, and editors
# AC Knowledge # AC Process # AC Enquiry
Bibliography
Widewalls. 2022. How Does Interactive Art Create Meaning? | Widewalls. [online] Available at: <https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/interactive-art-meaning> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
Zhou, H., 2022. Artistic Futures: Digital Interactive Installations — AMT Lab @ CMU. [online] AMT Lab @ CMU. Available at: <https://amt-lab.org/blog/2021/10/artistic-futures-digital-interactive-installations> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
In this post I will summarize any information online to explain why people like hand embroidery.
What are the differences between hand embroidery and machine embroidery
Below are two photos taken from one part of the embroideries, one is hand embroidered, the other machine made.
The left one is traditional Chinese hand embroidery , and the right one is machine embroidery.
We can fully see the detail of the work of hand embroidery, the gloss is much better than machine embroidery. Next, I will explain why hand embroidery is better.
Material. Chinese silk embroidery is made with silk threads on silk satin. Silk threads are very delicate. It is very difficult for a machine to use silk threads to make embroidery because silk threads can get broken very easily during embroidering. Machine embroideries normally use artificial fibers or artificial silk threads that are much stronger than natural silk threads.
Size of threads. Machine embroideries use full threads, but a fine quality silk embroidery painting use split silk threads, silk threads split from one full silk strand. To show the embroidery effect well, embroidery artists often use different sizes of silk threads when making one silk embroidery work. For example, the face part of a portrait embroidery is the most exquisite part that often use silk threads much thinner than the ones in other parts. Embroidery done with thinner silk threads is more smooth and has more colors mixed so it will look more realistic. But in a machine-made embroidery, all the threads are in the same size, all threads not split.
Stitches. If you compare two machine embroideries of the same design, you will find their stitches are the same. But handmade silk embroidery is different from each other even if the design is the same. Due to their nature of being handmade, there are not two handmade silk embroideries that are 100% the same. Also in one machine made embroidery alone, if you check it carefully, you will find that its stitches have a regular pattern.
Colors. The hand embroidery looks more brilliant while the machine embroidery looks a bit dull. Also when you check the enlarged photos, you will find hand embroidery looks neater while the machine embroidery looks rough.
# AC knowledge
Bibliography
Suembroidery.com. 2022. differences of hand embroidery and machine made embroidery. [online] Available at: <http://www.suembroidery.com/articles/hand_embroidery_machine_embroidery.htm> [Accessed 14 May 2022].
In this post I‘d like to find out in terms of the pricing of these two items from the Etsy Community.
Pricing on hand embroidery & machinery embroidery
Although my final project may not be some embroidery products that sell for money, I think based on this question, I try to understand why some people are willing to buy hand embroidery and why some people are willing to buy machine embroidery, which can help me undersand gradually hand embroidery between machinery embroidery in terms of pricing, there must be many reasons behind these.
I did secondary research from the website ETSY, which mainly focus on the sale and purchase of handicraft products（But a lot of embroidery is machine embroidered）. What’s interesting to me is that many people in ETSY/COMMUNITY are confusing about the pricing on hand embroidery which made by themselves，and they want to know how to make their hand embroidery be competitive when machine embroidery is cheap.
This person asked if hand embroidery should be sold at the same price as machine embroidery(figure:Community Etsy).
There are a lot of replies to this post, so I’ve picked different replies that make sense to me （These replies including the identities of post crafter, reader and community maker etc).
It’s hard to price handmade items because they need consider it both value them time and make the price attractive to customers.
People who spend the money on hand embroidery and appreciate the skill and time that goes into it, seem to be more likely to spend that money on beautiful heirloom items, such as birth/baptism gifts, wedding gifts, and other special occasion keepsakes. So you might keep that in mind when deciding what kinds of products to spend your hand embroidery time on.
Buyers of truly hand-embroidered items may be a fairly small market, but if that’s what you love doing, then that’s what you should do! Your love of your artwork will show through in the way you describe yourself, your shop, and your items.
You could flesh out these sections and tell more of your story to lure in the interested buyer. I can go to Walmart and get a machine-embroidered hand towel, but only on Etsy can I find a woman who hand embroiders quality linen towels with a pattern handed down from her great-grandmother, using Egyptian cotton embroidery floss, and who will send me photos of said great-grandmother while she’s working on the piece. That’s added value!
I think it also depends on what you are making. If you are trying to compete with those who buy robes and dolls and things and just embroider on initials or a name…don’t bother. People who buy these things aren’t looking for handmade. But if you are doing beautiful, decorative, creative charge full price.
There you go! Etsy shoppers are, as much as anything else, buying your story and the process behind the product. Maybe even show some photos of you while you’re doing the hand work. (Advice I need to take myself.)
No, I would not price it likes it’s machine made. It’s a totally different thing.
I’d go with an hourly rate, personally. Makes it a bit easier to ensure you’re being paid fairly for your time. And it would make it easier to price fairly if the complexity is different from piece to piece.
etc………..
Who will pay for hand embroidery?
Consumers who love hand embroidery and are willing to pay more money on it for collections, gifts, beauty, bridal and story, etc.
Who will pay for machinery embroidery?
Buying robes and dolls and things and just embroider on initials or a name, which means they are willing to pay less money on it, especially there are no special requirements for daily necessities.
How to make hand-embroidery more competitive than machine embroidery?
Tell more of the story and the process behind the product to lure in the interested buyer.
Conclusion
Through this post, I think the value of hand embroidery lies in the time spent by the embroiders behind it, as well as the story and process. It has certain humanistic feelings in it, and the target groups are willing to spend money first. And recognize the aesthetics of embroidery, and then they will be moved by the story . This is not like cold machine embroidery. Although it is cheap, it has no culture, no humanistic feelings, and less emotional value.
For hand-embroidered works of art, especially for unknown embroiderers, they do not have a complete system to regulate. In China, embroiderers can participate in being rated as national, provincial, and municipal levels from the competion goverment hold, and the price of artworks is based on their level and the collecter. For embroidery products, it will also be priced according to a series of factors such as the size of the embroidery, the degree of embroidery craftsmanship, the material and the level of the participating embroiderers. Most embroidery products range from 30 pounds to about 1,000 pounds, and embroidery products over 1,000 pounds are based on the embroiderer, different levels of price increases.
Handcraft in Contemporary Art and Cultural Sustainability in the Finnish Lapland
With regard to the first case in the study, the so-called “himmeli” is a traditional Finnish decorative mobile. It is made from short strips of rye straw tied together with string form a complex and symmetrical three-dimensional structure. It is used as a Christmas decoration that is hung over dining tables in many Finnish homes. What is less known is that the himmeli is thought to originate from a canopy decoration used in Medieval and Renaissance festivities in Central Europe. The word ‘himmeli’ has its roots in the Swedish and the German languages; himmel means sky and heaven. Maria Huhmarniemi began creating himmeli sculptures by extending traditional decorations (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Maria Huhmarniemi, Himmeli I, 2011 (figure: Maria Huhmarniemi).
She learnt to make traditional straw decorations from her mother and morphed these symmetric forms into free and wild sculptures by using coloured plastic drinking straws, as well as the traditional natural straws. She has created several series of himmeli sculptures that bear a political message; the himmeli sculptures have Swedish and German names underlying the fact that art develops in interaction with other cultures. She has also organised workshops and tutored participants to build himmelis together. Some of the workshops have been cross-generational, with young, middle-aged, and elderly participants; others have been intercultural, attended by participants from diverse cultural backgrounds (Figures 2 ).
Figure 2. Workshops on himmeli building (figure: Maria Huhmarniemi).
What do I like about it?
1. The practice has taken place at the intersection of art, design, and handcraft. The himmeli is most commonly perceived as a type of design and handcraft, not as a form of art. In none of these cases did the original work initially form part of the art world—their exhibition in galleries occurred in a secondary manner. In Western countries’ art, design, and craft are detached from each other and viewed separately. They are seen as having their own media of expression, language, and tradition.
2.The use of traditional handcraft methods in community art has the potential for enhanced dialogue, especially intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. the cases in this blog has promoted intergenerational dialogue. The ability to use similar tools, methods, and materials as one’s parents did means a connection to one’s roots.
What do I think could be improved?
I think this case can provide skills teaching videos of this traditional craft for more people to watch. The video needs to take into account the audience group, and teach students according to their education level and age, because although the art practice in the community is usually low threshold , there are no skill requirements, but people tend to be hesitant to participate. When the working methods are familiar, it is naturally easier for people to participate.
What can I learn from it to create my own intervention?
1.I can use the handcraft in community and contemporary art as a method for a broader participation of community members in artistic practice and as a tool for the innovating process of the Chinese embroidery. The use of handcraft in community and contemporary art can support intergenerational and intercultural dialogue due to its intercultural nature.
2.Each location needs to evaluate its own needs, rights, and responsibilities for more sustainable living; if provided from outside, it no longer serves the purposes of cultural sustainability.
3.Using the aims of a culturally sensitive approach in art parctice. The handcraft-based contemporary art practices with place-specific intergenerational and intercultural approaches create an open space for dialogue where the values and the perceptions of cultural heritage can be negotiated.
4.Using a mix of indigenous and critical methodologies in my intervention on contemporary art in Chinese embroidery.
# AC Knowledge # AC Enquiry
Bibliography
Huhmarniemi, M., 2018. Crafting Sustainability: Handcraft in Contemporary Art and Cultural Sustainability in the Finnish Lapland. [online] Lacris.ulapland.fi. Available at: <https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/files/6111304/sustainability_10_01907.pdf> [Accessed 2 may 2022].
