intra:knit is a handcraft collective by textile artists Hazel Mallon and Karen Modrei. Their intention is to critically reflect upon modes of labour and systems of value. Labour, especially the production of clothing, is often invisible and removed from the consumer. There exists a kind of ‘replaceability’ and a facelessness of workers. The tool intra:knit use, the domestic knitting machine, has a history of invisiblity from the public eye, along with its user.
In a collective anti-work session in Lothringer 13 Halle, intra:knit will unravel, disintegrate, unlearn and unmake. With radical counter-productivity, the artistic collective ask questions about the motivation and value of labour, and examine the notions of time/productivity, from an individual as well as from a societal perspective. Drawing attention to existing conceptions of the office space (a traditionally masculine work environment), Mallon and Modrei are eager to install themselves along with their domestic tools. ‘Un-Ruin-Us’ addresses gendered labour, its visibility (or invisibility) and the role of the worker in relation to the product.
‘Un-Ruin-Us’ will be staged in the context of the exhibition series ‘PART TIME COMMITMENT SERIES.’, and specifically within the segment ‘Chapter 2: ARBEITSLABOR’.
Tuilleadh eolaisintra:knit (est.2020) was founded by two textile artists Hazel Mallon (IE) and Karen Modrei (DE). Their work seeks to critically re-examine histories outside of dominant narratives, particularly concerning craft practices traditionally seen as feminine or domestic. They take a collaborative and experimental approach in considering the nature of women’s labour and the importance of craft processes in a post-industrial era. Focusing on the tool of the domestic knitting machine, they create installations and performance pieces that explore these relations and invite participation in the making and reflecting. Since its conception in Stockholm in 2020, intra:knit has exhibited, hosted workshops, performances and lectures in Ireland, Germany and Sweden.