Farm to Function: Pre-Research Rambles

“What is it you research here?” The German guy in the backseat asked in broken English as we drove out of Frans Josef and towards Fox Glacier on the West Coast of New Zealand. His name was David (pronounced Dah-veed) and the first of many hitchhikers to ask me about my research.

Initial conversation with hitchhikers usually goes something like this:

–       A brief discussion of whether or not I’m heading somewhere helpful to them

–       A lot of shuffling around and asking “think you’ll fit?” as we move bags from the backseat to the trunk

–       An exchange of where we are each from

–       An exchange of our names

–       A gift of chocolate from the glove compartment

–       An exchange of how long we’re in New Zealand

–       An exchange of what brought us each to New Zealand

–       And natural conversation tends to flow from there

It’s in the exchange of what brought us to New Zealand that I get asked about my research. I told David, like I told the rest of the hitchhikers, that I was in New Zealand to research wool and fabric production. Everyone has been interested and wants me to tell them more, so I dive into the story:

“Well,” I say, “it all came from this realization that people (myself included) are very disconnected from the processes behind the objects we are so attached to. My goal is to illuminate one of these processes- the process behind wool fabric and clothing.”

I go on…

There are so many components (human, animal, and machine) that play a role in the making of fabric that are hidden in the final product. When we see a wool blanket, we see a wool blanket- we don’t see sheep and farmers, shearers and mills, dyeing and spinning, weaving and knitting, artisans and machines- just a wool blanket. This concept of mistaking a part for a whole is termed the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness” by philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. He’s a big guy in the pre-research part of my research.

I want to illuminate the forgotten process in a way that people are interested in learning about it. While I might be thrilled to curl up with a whole novel about fabric production, I know I’m among the few. People have no reason to want to sit down and read a research paper about where fabric comes from. As a photographer, I think a much better and more accessible way to bring this process to light is to really show it through a series of photos. People need to see the process from farm to function.

I often compare the idea with the “Farm to Table” movement sweeping over the U.S.- people are getting more and more concerned with knowing where their food comes from and how it was raised, so why not get more concerned with where our clothing comes from and how it was made?

This whole idea sparked my interest several months ago during my second block class, Reenchanting the World. Side note: if you are a student and ever have a chance to take that class- please just do it. Before I could illuminate this process for others, I felt as though I needed to go through the whole process myself. I had the opportunity to do that for my final project for that class and made this short film:

After I went through the process myself, I wanted to figure out a way beyond the little film to show the process to others… so here I am. Sitting at some strange, but really rad café/found item art gallery called The Lost Gypsy in the Caitlins.

Why did I come all the way to New Zealand to photograph wool and fabric production? Well, New Zealand is home to 4 million people and 31 million sheep- a pretty good ratio for what I’m looking at. Before I started my research, I toured around a little visiting people and places and thinking I was going to stop at every sheep farm I passed… that was a bold thought. You can’t drive 10km anywhere in this country without hitting another sheep farm. Here’s some proof and sheepy eye-candy for those interested:

Next up on the blog: a mill visit in on the South East coast of the South Island… Stay Tuned!

Very limited wifi during my travels, but I’ll do my best to keep everyone posted!