Saturday, September 14, 2019 4pm–7pm
Free

Join us for the opening exhibition of Ahree Lee’s Pattern : Code at the Women’s Center for Creative Work. Pattern : Code reactivates the innate connections between weaving and computing, and examines the interrelationships between technology, craft, and women’s labor. It features weavings and computer-generated videos that draw on code, algorithms, and self-generated labor data. 

Computing and weaving are inextricably connected. The word “technology” comes from the Greek “techne,” meaning “art” or “craft.” The first computers were derived from the same technology that runs Jacquard weaving looms. Weaving is binary, either a warp or a weft thread is on the surface, essentially a zero or one. 

Weaving and computing differ in their gender associations and value of labor. Women were instrumental in the development of computing, writing the first computer programs and filling the ranks of programming jobs in the early years. Now the technology industry is dominated by men earning significantly more than their female coworkers. Textile production drove technological advances from prehistory through the industrial revolution. Yet, the history of textile production is also a history of how women and those without power were exploited for economic gain. 

Ahree Lee is a multi-media artist working in video, new media, and textiles. Her commissions include the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the 01SJ Biennial, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, the 2006 International Short Film Festival in Leuven, Belgium, and the Sundance Channel. Her Webby-nominated video Me was shown by Steve Jobs as a demo for YouTube on Apple TV, and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of the Moving Image, New York.

Lee’s honors include a forthcoming artist residency at Santa Fe Art Institute; a Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Award nomination; an Artist Fellowship Grant from the state of Connecticut; and an artistic career development grant from Asian American Renaissance funded by the Jerome Foundation. Lee received her B.A. from Yale University and M.F.A. from Yale School of Art.

Accessibility information for this event: WCCW has a 36” wide ramp at our front entrance and a stairway with 8 steps and a rail. There are 2 gender neutral restrooms. One restroom is wheelchair accessible, with a handrail. We provide scent free soaps and encourage guests to attend our events scent free. If you require ASL interpretation, CART, interpretation for a language other than English, supervised childcare, or have any other access needs or questions, please contact [email protected] at least two weeks in advance. It is our practice to do everything we can to create a safe and accessible space.