In the research and art project ‘Caring for co-with knitting practices‘ I work together with Charlotte Østergaard, Lund University. In the project we explore materiality of artistic practice and its implications. Taking point of departure in the making of a physical artefacts and the practice of knitting, the project explores the interplay between making and thinking, encompassing both the human and the non-human, resulting in co-constructed knowledge and meaning through performative and textile practices.
Knitting into each other’s loops, so that the bodies collide – crossing, closing, disturbing each other’s concentration. Changing needles as we go. Our threads get tangled, and we struggle to keep knitting until our pieces are knitted together. A playful struggle for attention, a struggle to disrupt each other’s thoughts, a struggle to persevere and keep going, not to give up… The focus is on creating knit stitches, all choices – aesthetic patterns/stitch choices – are removed, play and interaction are the creative tools.
– Excerpt from our process documentation
The project discuss the research process of exploring the dimensions of co-knitting performances. Drawing on artistic research, the project explores artistic practices that are improvisational and experimental in nature through the following questions: Which components and tools contribute to the phenomenon of co-knitting? How can partnership of playful improvisation enable novel ways to explore performative textile methods? How can documentation support ongoing exploration of methods for understanding the phenomenon and its various nuanced perspectives?
The project is a collaboration with Charlotte Østergaard, Costume Designer and PhD-student, School of Theater, Lund University.
Presentations of the research project:
- Ledendal, M. & Østergaard, C. (2024). Co-Creative Knitting – explorations of an improvisational practices, ALLIANCES AND COMMONALITIES conference, Stockholm University of the Arts, 17–19 Oct, performative presentation.
- Ledendal, M. & Østergaard, C. (2024). Co-Creative Knitting – explorations of an improvisational practices, CROCUS conference BEYOND SITE/SIGHT, 12–14, June.
- Ledendal, M. & Østergaard, C. (2024), Co-knitting, Dahlqvist, J., de Witt Sandström, I., Fredriksson, C., Ledendal, M. & Willim, R. (2024). (Eds.) CROCUS conference BEYOND SITE/SIGHT, Lund: Media-Tryck.
- Ledendal, M. & Østergaard, C. (2024). Co-Creative Knitting – explorations of an improvisational practices, CROCUS research seminar, Theme: Role of Materiality, Brandstationen, Helsingborg, 6 Dec.