Jason Dodge

In Abu Dhabi, Fatimah Al Mansoori wove yarn the colour of night and length from the earth to above the weather

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Jason Dodge, In Abu Dhabi, Fatimah Al Mansoori wove yarn the colour of night and length from the earth to above the weather, Wool and rope. Courtesy of the artist. Art Jameel Collection

Artwork Details

Artist

Jason Dodge

Title

In Abu Dhabi, Fatimah Al Mansoori wove yarn the colour of night and length from the earth to above the weather

Date

Medium

Wool and rope

Dimensions

Credit Line

Art Jameel Collection

Work Description

This work is part of a larger series of woven sculptures in which Jason Dodge works with weavers from across the globe to create blankets from a single piece of yarn. For this iteration, Dodge worked with a weaver based in the United Arab Emirates. The blanket was woven with a single piece of string, the length of which is estimated to be equal to the distance from the Earth to the troposphere (the lowest region of Earth’s atmosphere). The woven sculptures imply natural elements, their shades of colour and textures evoking multiple sensory and visual sensations and the night sky in each country. Distance is represented in the weaving; the weavers are “touching” the distance from the Earth to the sky as they knit the fabric, representing their own connection to the environment.

Infusing everyday objects with poetry through conceptually driven gestures, Dodge creates works that function as signifiers of a larger narrative. The subtle complexity of his installations, and the ways in which they oscillate between different planes of space, time and meaning, highlight how objects generate meaning. In this work, the blanket is the result of actions that took place in a different location or time, out of public view, revealing the constant transformation of physical spaces through our individual and collective actions.

Artist Biography

Jason Dodge’s (b. 1969, lives and works in Berlin, Germany) sculpture practice adjusts our material world to build moments of narrative, connection and potential through the lens of natural phenomena. Dodge brings attention back to the alchemical process of things, bringing a mystic contemplation to the otherwise banal and overlooked. 

Jason Dodge received a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (1992), and a MFA from Yale University School of Art, New Haven (1996). His recent solo exhibitions include Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, Chicago (2018); the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2017); IAC – Institut d’Art Contemporain de Villeurbanne (2016) and he co-curated Enemy of the Stars with Krist Gruijthuijsen at KW Institute, Berlin (2017). He has recently participated in group exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); MIT List Visual Arts Centre, Cambridge, USA (2017); 500 Capp Street, San Francisco (2018); Eli and Edythe Broad Museum, East Lansing, USA (2017); and the Neubauer Collegium in Chicago, with Dieter Roelstraete (2018). He has also taken part in the Liverpool Biennale (2016), Lyon Biennale (2013) and Venice Biennale (Lithuanian Pavilion, 2013). Besides his artistic practice, Dodge is the founder of the poetry imprint ‘Fivehundred Places’ which has published 25 monographic books of poems by contemporary poets. 

Useful Links

The Distance from Here