Repurpose Black

Cristina Velazquez was an Artist in Residence at SJMQT at the beginning of 2017. She uses knitted VHS tape to create long oversized shawls. This piece is part of a larger work that blends the memories of a visual culture, the VHS tape, with the endless act of women’s labor, represented at the handwork in the knitting. “As discarded matter the videos will yield no more satisfaction of viewing movies—women too carry that same burden in older age as their service deteriorates with passing time.” - Velazquez

Cristina Velazquez juxtaposed video tapes to address waste in the environment with the rebozos (shawls) to represent older Mexican women in a state of departure. At play are the connections of repurposed VHS tapes and women’s labor as two objects thought of as obsolete in contemporary western society. Through reassigning values to these two elements; this artwork engages with ecofeminism, a political movement that addresses ecological and feminist concerns as a radical strategy to deconstruct the patriarchy. By knitting the shinny black film into textiles, the piece becomes an extension of women’s handwork. The elongated veils fill the white empty space of the gallery, cascading and morphing through its shinny surface. The shadows represent the ghosts of the images contained in the tapes never to be seen again. The act of knitting brings together the unseen memories, with the tangible present.

Techniques: Hand knitted
Culture: American
Geographic Location: North and Central America, United States
Credit Line: Gift of the Artist