Unravelling 2010 by artist Vera McEvoy.
Audio visual 1 minute 30 second extract from a 7 minute artwork.
This work was made in response to time spend in a Dublin textile reprocessing plant and from discussions and interactions with staff. Most processing staff also receive 1-2 days training in other skills and are supported to return to the workforce and an alternative life. See other videos on this same project at Off The Wall and Conveyor Belt.
McEvoy’s work encourages an alternative reality by creating an awareness of the true scale in western developed society of the practice of consumption and of the reproductive value of products and materials. Through a systematic process of intervention of discarded familiar objects, products and materials, McEvoy creates work that examines polarities of scale, large and small, as well as qualities of fragility and robustness.
Through extracting fibres, filaments, strands and constituent parts of used objects, the re-formed work is a constructed re-presentation of the extant processes of consumerism, commodification and consumption. Processes of deconstruction are a primary focus of McEvoy’s work, as she delicately, skillfully, dismantles and reforms aesthetic objects of frail vulnerability imbuing them with strength. Her colourful work incorporates textile, paper, plastic and print and video. Her current work explores themes of recurring deconstruction and re-presentation in relation to old buildings.