Phase 12: H20

For KNITTING NATION Phase 12 Collins worked at Occidental College with Advanced Projects in Interdisciplinary Arts students to theatricalize the connection between body and machine, textile and space that is at the invisible center of globalized garment manufacturing. As the knitters sway in rhythm with their machines, the chromatic streams of knit yardage serve as architectonic scale drawings. On November 6, 2013, Liz Collins brought Knitting Nation 12 to the Occidental College as the campus’s inaugural Wanlass Artist-in-Residence. In addition to the daylong site specific performance, Collins’ two-week residence featured a new gallery-based temporary installation, Distancer-Pursuer, part of the artist’s zig zag fringe series; and a public dialogue with noted art historian, Julie Bryan-Wilson. The Los Angeles campus was be the first west coast site of Knitting Nation.