Press Room

May 17–June 30, 2019

New York, NY (May 31, 2019)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is pleased to present Victoria Manganiello: Computer 1.0, a site-specific installation on view through June 30, 2019. A handwoven textile made of cotton thread, hollow polymer tubing, and colored water, for this project Manganiello invited designer Julian Goldman to collaborate on designing and programming a pump controlled by Arduino microcomputers to move precise sequences of air and liquid through the approximately 2,000 feet of tubing woven through the cloth. The movement of the air and liquid evokes traditional weaving patterns such as bird’s eye, monk’s cloth, and twill.

In the presentation, the operating system—the computer and the pump—is not kept out of sight in the service of the woven screen and the pixelated patterns that run across it, but rather is an integral part of the work; nothing is hidden. “There’s a delight that draws viewers in—while also a case being made for understanding and experiencing weaving as a technology, one that the omnipresent computers and gadgets of contemporary life are profoundly tied to in complicated ways,” said Lydia Brawner, Manager of Public Programs, and curator of the installation.

Computer 1.0 reflects and expands on the ob­scured connection between weaving and computational technology, in which the “under-over, under-over” of thread becoming cloth inspired the “zero-one-zero-one” of binary code. The jacquard loom of 1801, which used punch cards to program the movement of thread into increasingly complex woven patterns, is a direct, though frequently forgotten, ancestor of modern computers.

The site-specific installation marks the seventh installment of the Museum’s Fellow Focus series, dedicated to highlighting the work of MAD’s Artist Studios program alumni. Manganiello was an Artist-in-Residence at MAD August 7, 2018 through February 3, 2019.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Exploring the intersections between materiality, space, philosophy, and storytelling, Victoria Manganiello makes installations, abstract paintings, and performances with hand-woven textiles, using hand-spun yarn and hand-mixed natural and synthetic dyes. These labor-intensive and monotonous processes subliminally act as connectors to cultures, current and past, that have uniquely yet simultaneously developed techniques for creating textiles.  

ABOUT THE ARTIST STUDIOS PROGRAM

The Artist Studios program hosts artists and designers daily in open studios. Artists-in-residence receive space and support to develop new work and expand their practice, while welcoming dialogue with the public about their processes, materials, and concepts. Founded in 2008, the program has provided studio space and financial support to over 160 artists-in-residence working in a range of interdisciplinary media.

The Artist Studios program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. Principal support for the MAD Fellowship program is provided by Marcia Docter. Additional funding is provided by The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship Program.

Additionally, this project is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts in partnership with Wave Farm: Media Arts Assistance Fund, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts Electronic Media and Film Program, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) champions contemporary makers across creative fields and presents the work of artists, designers, and artisans who apply the highest level of ingenuity and skill. Since the Museum’s founding in 1956 by philanthropist and visionary Aileen Osborn Webb, MAD has celebrated all facets of making and the creative processes by which materials are transformed, from traditional techniques to cutting-edge technologies. Today, the Museum’s curatorial program builds upon a rich history of exhibitions that emphasize a cross-disciplinary approach to art and design, and reveals the workmanship behind the objects and environments that shape our everyday lives. MAD provides an international platform for practitioners who are influencing the direction of cultural production and driving twenty-first-century innovation, and fosters a participatory setting for visitors to have direct encounters with skilled making and compelling works of art and design. For more information, visit madmuseum.org.

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