WERKTANK

Crochet selected

I’m happy to announce that my project ‘Crochet’ is selected as project for Werktank’s 2019 Open Call: Ultra Artisan. In 2020 I’ll produce this work with financial and technical support of Werktank, Leuven (BE).

about Werktank:
Werktank is a production platform for media art. Our main mission is the realisation and distribution of installation art that investigates the relation between technology and perception.

Werktank functions as a work tool for the artist and puts its artistic, technical and productional expertise at the disposal of young and emerging artists. We accompany the artist through all the phases of the creation process of media art, from the research process till the final realisation and active distribution of the work, by offering residencies, financial and productional support.

Every year we give new artists the opportunity to work in Werktank, in parallel with a selection of artists who are supported on a longer term and who assure the continuity of the Werktank-dramaturgy.
We aim to continuously challenge the artistic line developed over the past years with new impulses, at the same time trying to maintain a coherent story which connects the works we produce.

Werktank operates at the crossroads of media art, visual art and performance art. Most of the works produced in our media-factory are comments or reflections on contemporary visual culture. They form a bridge between the past and the present by deliberately mixing new and old media. Often they combine the latest digital technologies with old craftsmanlike techniques, always maintaining the focus on the content and imaginative force of the artwork.

Our headquarters are situated in the heart of the city of Leuven (Belgium) and consist of offices, workspaces and a technical workshop. We are an inter(national) organisation, but are also firmly rooted in the city, closely collaborating with local actors to give new impulses to its emerging artistic scene.



about Ultra Artisan Open call:
Werktank is looking for postdigital artisans and artists to propose projects . We are looking for new aesthetics and crossbreeds between installation art and visual art, design, textile art, ancient technologies and artisanal methods. Werktank will award a grant for the creation and production of a new installation or artwork.
We are particularly interested in contemporary artists who are questioning the digital versus the handmade, who craft by hand whilst embracing the digital age or using digital technology to transform ancient technology.


about Crochet:
For a number of years I have been collecting round crocheted rugs that I find at local markets in various countries. Interesting
I find the combination of the grandma’s image, the floral but psychedelic and geometric patterns, and the craft-like craft. In the work Crochet, I want to focus primarily on the wavy and organic material properties and combine these soft properties with high contrasts in light and sound. I am thinking of a large hanging sculpture in a dark room. The rotating rugs are illuminated with complex flickering.
Because of the fragmentation, the patterns seem to change and you see different wave movements. The organic character is reinforced by the behavior; the dresses turn open and closed as if a gust of wind is passing. By turning the fabric you feel the light breeze and you hear the soft flaps of the fabric. The amplified sounds of the engines and construction go along organically in the whole.



Werktank says:
Crochet’ by Mariska De Groot
An installation which combines in an intelligent and sensual way new and old media, craftmanship and technological wizardry. ‘Crochet ‘ is a kinetic sculpture which transforms the artisanal ‘Crochet’-technique into mesmerizing visual patterns through a clever use of light and movement. References to coding and data popped up in our mind, and we can’t wait to be ‘crochetized’ by Mariska’s new work.