'Hord No.2' in Work Work (Exhibition)

‘Hord No.2’ is a woven textile work by Mosscrop included in the exhibition ‘Work Work’ at Tintype Gallery, London. The exhibition, curated by Jo Addison, Adam Gillam and Mark Harris of Kingston University, examines notions artistic labour through the practices of twenty-six contemporary artists. Mosscrop’s ‘Hord No.2’ is an outcome of his on-going practice-based research exploring the potential and significance of woven textile as a contemporary fine art medium. This research has involved the construction and operation of a weaving workshop, including a four-harness counter-balanced floor loom. The workshop is conceived as an evolving sculptural entity and a cognitive technology, extending and modifying the artist’s capacity for thought and action. The research uses a methodology akin to experimental archaeology, reconstructing pre-industrial equipment to provide an alternative experiential perspective on the practice of weaving, and on the relationship between technology and practices of work and thought. Weaving is considered as both the means and object of research, and the cloths produced form a physical transcript of the research process. The loom played a key role in the revolutions in technology and labour during the industrial revolution, and the jacquard loom is a precursor to Babbage’s Analytical Engine and the modern computer. Mosscrop’s research builds on the pioneering work of Annie Albers in developing the significance and critical frameworks of woven textile as a specific fine art medium. Albers defined the essence of weaving as a play between raw material and structure. Mosscrop’s woven textile work has made consistent use of single gauge of cotton yarn in order to focus attention on the informational and affective significance of woven structure. Mosscrop’s work was selected for inclusion in ‘Work Work’ because of the questions it raises about physical and intellectual labour in the context of a diverse range of contemporary art practices.