Silent Apprenticeship
The project began with an invitation from the London College of fashion to create a new piece of work inspired by their shoe archive for art exhibition Footnotes. Linda responded as an artist and tool-maker who reads objects through their construction methods.
-
London College of Fashion
-
2018
-
Footnotes Exhibition - Sutton House, London.
-
Alison Moloney, London College of Fashion.
I chose this shoe because I can see the makers hands and tools all over it. The simple construction in wood, string and fabric mean that the scuffs in the chisel marks, left-handed twine knotting and stitching all paint the picture of the maker vividly.
Although it’s not exactly simple to make, the materials and process is a language I understand.
So working out the order of cutting and making was one of quiet repetition - much like that of an apprenticeship.
Knowing and imagining so much about the original maker through his Geta, he became an invisible presence in the studio, guiding me to accomplish a replica of his original.
Research image of geta craftsman
The first task was to create new versions of the craftsman’s tools.
By visiting archive footage and photographs of geta making a core set of tools were designed and made in the studio. These consisted of chisels, a scorer, brushes, guides and templates and a burnishing stone. Keeping with the style of the original geta with its scuffs and inconsistencies, the tool set is simple and humble.
By exploring a new area of her practice of shoemaking, Linda undertakes what she calls a ‘silent apprenticeship’, working in the shadow of the Geta maker, who she will never meet. She aims to shadow his movements precisely, following the scar lines left by his damaged tools, ultimately learning to create a near-perfect copy of his geta.
