Karin Altmann
The “Flax Life Cycle” dedicated two semesters to the plant fibre flax and offered students the opportunity to go through the entire process from seed to textile, thus contributing to a responsible, sustainable future and attempting textile self-sufficiency.
In addition to the practical basics (cultivation, growth, harvesting, fibre processing, spinning, weaving, and experimental textile applications), the students investigated questions of social and ecological sustainability and the individual, cultural, social and political aspects associated with the textile (linen) in artistic-design and research-oriented processes. Beside the development of a solid foundation for critical thinking, the main aim was to impart a lot of practical knowledge on the experimental field in the garden at Zentrum Fokus Forschung (annex Rustenschacherallee).
The project deliberately connects to historical and disappearing textile production methods and translates them into a contemporary artistic context. Historical craft techniques were taught alongside contemporary artistic and design approaches. A key feature of the seminar was its inter- and transdisciplinary orientation, which linked aspects of art, design, craft, materials research, and sustainability. This approach allows flax to be considered not only as a raw material but also as a cultural and ecological system.
Transdisciplinary teaching and learning settings brought together practitioners from art, craft, and agriculture, creating spaces for encounters, knowledge acquisition, and transfer. Artistic and research-oriented processes were combined with creative, critical and reflective thinking about ecological, social, political, cultural and cultural-historical dimensions of textile production.
FLAX STORIES
COLLECTIVE FLAX HARVEST
SHARING SESSION
As part of the Angewandte Festival 2024, students of the seminar „FLAX LIFE CYCLE – From Seed to Textile“ led by Karin Altmann, investigated the potential of the flax fibre plant and invited to a sharing session in the garden at Center Research Focus.
Participants: Amelie Bosse, Rosa Brotzge, Olivia Cavallari, Pauline Deml, Yola Fahdt, Lena Fürjesi, Nick Gröller, Eva Maria Kühleitner, Zofia Macias, Klara Neuber, Paula Peters, Sama Saadatfard, Annalena Stocker, Clara Weiss und Leo Zellweger
