Wyex was commissioned by the TextielMuseum to develop work for the museum's permanent collection. Wyex created an art installation; a large-scale cash machine. For the execution of the design, Wyex combines tufting, weaving, and embroidery techniques.
American artist Geo Wyex was commissioned by the TextielMuseum to develop work for the museum's permanent collection. Wyex created a large-scale cash machine, an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). As a theme, the ATM regularly resurfaces in the oeuvre, embodying a place of possibilities, speculations, transactions, and empty promises, notions Wyex constantly reinterprets. For the execution of the design, Wyex combines tufting, weaving, and embroidery techniques. As members of the public are allowed to enter the installation, special precautions need to be taken in the building process - a challenge for the Lab.
Commission supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Wyex sketched the initial ideas for the installation down on paper without thinking about materials and techniques. Together with the experts at the TextielLab, they searched for a way to make the installation three-dimensional and also workable.
Wyex designed a three-dimensional construction for the ATM that can be dismantled. The walls and the roof consist of woven panels stretched in a frame. For the images on the panels, they has chosen to partly weave them into and partly embroider them onto the fabric; this places more emphasis on the embroidered coins and texts. The River of Stars has been translated into several islands of tufted carpet between which the public can walk.
The woven samples reveal the search for material, colour and drawing. The first samples are noticeably very distinct from the samples made for the final installation. The outside of the ATM is brightly coloured and embroidered with gold coins. The inside of the ATM is a deep dark colour with an embroidered filament that lights up when switched on.
Wyex wants to use the installation for performances. Furthermore, the idea is for the public to enter the ATM from the back. Extra attention is therefore needed when selecting the materials. They must be wear-resistant, easy to clean and safe. This is the first work in the TextielMuseum collection that will be used in this manner; the conservation and management team will need to be closely involved in the realisation of this installation.
American artist Geo Wyex (New York City, 1984) works with installations and performances with music, videos, and other media. The work addresses life in a world, where absurdist characters question the social system of norms and values. In 2015-2016 they were in residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.
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