Data Studies 2.1: We Thank you to carefully examine and fit (2023)
Recycled/ found denim, handmade denim paper pulp, cotton, ink / 32 x 47 in
In Data Studies 2.1, I play with legibility and slow reading by employing text redaction techniques from salvaged denim interiors and leather labels while interconnecting textile techniques of weaving and quilting to speak of the connection of data, denim and Black labour.
Pieced denim and denim paper pulp is woven, sewn and screen-printed at different points. Highlighted meanings that utilize annotation, redaction and repetition urge the viewer to look closer and consider the relationships that connect Black people to history, land, sound and text.
Taking a grid-like form and the application of the x/y axis and a rectangular shape, I replaced what would have been preconditioned elements with more arbitrary alignments. The two words, “and related,” echo from the top right-hand side down through the piece. In my previous archival searches, the missing and misgrouped records under the miscellaneous category ‘and related’ were often noted when no other information was made available. Hence, I began to question the use of these two words that connected time to people and place. How can these two simple words contain a myriad of untold tales?