Rob Mertens
Recollecting Time, 2017-18
Dimensions variable
cotton, electrical conduit, breaker boxes, wire,
speakers, field recordings from Costa Rica.
Statement
My research combines ideas of acousmatic sound, handcraft and loss which I manifest in hybrid sculptures and installations. My practice is driven by concepts related to fragmentation, spirituality, repetition, pattern, interconnection and the emphasis of meaning found in craft processes. I search for broken narratives, end-time beliefs, quotidian gestures, textile structures, and the patterns of entropy. My work considers the shifting nature of craft and tradition by deconstructing ideas of progression and time. I often employ traditional craft techniques such as weaving, felting, quilting and hand embroidery and combine them with advanced prototyping technology such as laser-cutting, digital fabric printing, and digital Jacquard hand weaving. I triangulate between the poetics of electricity, the production of the hand and the patterns found in time. How does humanity perceive its relationship to technology changing? What tension can be gleaned from understanding this change?
ROB MERTENS
Assistant Professor,
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
R. Mertens is an artist, curator and educator living in Virginia. His research revolves around the intersection of technology, science and myth. His artwork is a combination of new media with traditional fibers craft that culminate in performances, installations and powered sculptures. Mertens has previously been featured in the exhibitions “Extreme Fibers”, “High Fiber Diet Biennial” and “Fibre Men” in the Ukraine among many others. Currently, he is the head of the Fiber Art Department and an assistant faculty member at James Madison University in Virginia.