Invitation

Here isthe genesis of our thinking and prime mover of our intentions with this project. The college has invited the community to participate in explorat5ions of lace.
Dear Colleagues,

In September of 2009, The Design Center will present an exhibition "Lace in Translation." The Center's archive of the Quaker Lace Company is serving as resource and inspiration for three internationally rec-ognized artists – Tord Boontie, Demakersvan, and Cal Lane who are creating major works which explore their own interpretations of lace. These works have been commissioned by The Design Center at Phila-delphia University and are already in process. Hilary Jay, Carla Bednar, and Nancy Packer have a won-derful season of art and design planned for all of us.

Theme:
One of the most intriguing aspects of lace is that we not only see it, but we also see through it.
There is a play between the lace and the surface that shows through, each affecting and redefining the other.
The world outside a window is dissolved into a play of light and softened forms as it passes between the threads of a lace curtain.
Bare skin is covered, yet vivid and real, through the patterned openings of a lace shawl.
Lace, as product and idea, presents a wealth of possible interpretations.

Opportunity:
In parallel with the creation and installation of the commissioned projects, design students from all design disciplines on campus can be involved in projects which explore the creative possibilities of lace. Each discipline will create its own specific project design brief and choose its own criteria and pathways for creative exploration. After participating in their own lace projects (6-7 weeks), our students are likely to be more active participants in the symposium with visiting artists and other planned activities during the "Lace in Translation Show."

Even bigger opportunities in collaborations:
The presentation format for all these projects will be a grand assembly in the Kanbar Performance Space. As a result of this show, we imagine the possibility of collaborations across the design disciplines. Students and faculty will have the opportunity to "go shopping" among all the ideas in this marketplace and imagine the most satisfying interactions. Using on site terminals and a blog, opinions and suggestions about possible collaborative efforts will be immediately collected. On the last day of this assembly, a group of faculty and students will take part in a one-day retreat to collate a list of possible collaborative ventures and to facilitate the initial collaborative introductions. The multi-disciplinary teams that will form will be given the opportunity to generate a more comprehensive design proposal based on their combined and related creative ideas about the possibilities of lace. These proposals will be reviewed at another open presentation and teams will be given faculty advisors and financial support to prepare installations on campus in conjunction with the "Lace in Translation Show."

Objectives:
• Prepare design students for "Lace in Translation" by their participation in parallel design explorations.
• Use the exploration of this common theme as the basis for multidisciplinary collaborations. Each
student, having dedicated time to an individually created work within their own discipline, will be
receptive and sensitive to explorations of the same theme in other disciplines. The collaborations will benefit both from individual strengths and the exploration of a shared theme.

We look forward to meeting with you and hearing your ideas and suggestions about this proposal.

Hy Zelkowitz, Industrial Design
Marcia Weiss, Textile Design
Susan Frosten, Architecture