Collaborations

LMRM piloted its first collaboration with an artist whose practice had not previously included loom weaving. In partnership with Abraham Cone, LMRM co-directors Murat Ahmed and Hope Wang sought to explore new woven experimentations that would expand the possibilities of Cone’s current practice and LMRM’s textile-based medium. 

LMRM facilitated the process for Cone to dye-paint two silk warps, later installed simultaneously on the TC2 digital loom. Using Cone’s visual language as a foundation, Wang and Ahmed developed woven compositions that culminated in works such as these double-sided, double-weave silk privacy screens—at once image, object, and textural field. As Cone’s first foray into warp painting and dressing a loom, LMRM’s mission was two-fold: to cultivate artist-driven inquiries that traverse disciplines and deepen appreciation for weaving as a vital contemporary art form.

This item was produced as part of The Institute of Making Space for Noncompetitve Looms Gift Shop, a collaboration between four collectives: LMRM, Making Space, The Bureau of Noncompetitive Research, and The Institute of Institutional Critique. Having bonded over their shared interests in collaboration, slowness, and the unseen labour demanded by cultural work, each collective has produced merchandise that speaks to the continuous bureaucratic and administrative work that has become an essential part of the creative process. The merchandise for sale at this quasi-fictitious gift shop draws attention to the fundraising, bookkeeping, planning, feeding, conflict management, and imaginative problem-solving that is asked of artists and arts workers in order to make and show their work.

This semi-fictional gift shop is an exhibition at Whippersnapper Gallery (Toronto) as part of a programming series supported by Collective Collective.

LMRM worked with River Coello and For the Birds Trapped in Airports, to create a handwoven book cover for the special edition of their book HAMPI. This book cloth is both a creative expression experience for Coello, fostered by LMRM, and a collaborative exchange with FTBTIA. 

The special edition is currently in production.

Ratio is a project between artist & educator Poppy DeltaDawn, publisher & production bindery For The Birds Trapped In Airports, graphic designer Katie (Williams) Leonard, and weaving studio LMRM. This tool book is both a love letter to artists working on the TC2 digital jacquard loom, as well as to the long lineage of weaving and loom technology. Intermingled with personal essays, historical accounts, and instructional manuals for digital loom file-design, Ratio considers the broader implications of creating cloth and why it matters to our agency, autonomy, and freedom.