2020 was a year of great uncertainties. Amid the anxieties, the tears and the rage, many of us have also discovered a surprising calm and determination. Flux asked artists about the ways in which they’ve navigated the challenges and the ways in which they’ve discovered inner strength. Spring and summer shows will reflect some of the responses. Frau Fiber, the alter-ego of artist Carole Frances Lung, has sewn masks every day since the lockdown began inMarch of 2020. They have become like journal entries– marking time, referencing current events, noting moments of hope and moments of challenge. Betsy Lohrer-Hall, Director/ Curator of Flux Art Space.
Join Frau Fiber in
Solidarity at a Distance
March 18th – April 17th, 2021
@ Flux Art Space, Long Beach
OPENING-AT-A-DISTANCE WITH FRAU FIBER
mask up and walk up or drive by
SATURDAY MARCH 20TH, 1-3 PM
Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) with Frau (onlive via zoom):
Saturday April 3, 11:30 am (PST)
Long Beach, CA – Join Frau Fiber, the alter-ego of visual artist Carole Frances Lung, for Solidarity at a Distance at Flux Art Space, March 18 – April 17, 2021. The exhibition can be viewed from the sidewalk 24/7 at 410 Termino Avenue in Long Beach. We’ll have two opportunities to meet Frau – one in person and one over Zoom. First, you can mask up and drive by or walk up to the opening-at-a- distance on Saturday, March 20, 1-3pm at Flux. Then, you can join us for Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) on Zoom, Saturday April 3, 11:30am (PST). See below for more details!
About Solidarity at a Distance
On March 18, 2020, Frau Fiber went into lockdown at the Institute 4 Labor Generosity Workers & Uniforms (formerly at 322 Elm Ave LB, now at The LOFT, 401 S Mesa Street, San Pedro). In response to the lock down, the supply chain’s inability to provide face coverings, and in solidarity to combat COVID, Frau Fiber generated a face mask a day for herself and for Carole Frances Lung, her biographer and archivist of the ILGWU. To bolster the supply chain Frau Fiber produced over 300 masks that were donated to homeless shelters and the Long Beach VA. The face coverings were made with a dust cloth liner and textiles from the waste stream. From the waste stream supply, Frau Fiber chose to make her face coverings from solids, texture and woven textiles, while Carole selected novelty prints. The making of the masks is the only production Frau has been able to accomplish and it has become a way of settling into this long winter of isolation.
Both Frau and Carole have received their first COVID vaccines recently without incident. Face mask production will conclude on March 21, 2021, after their second vaccination.
Here is an article from April 2020 in which Frau Fiber shows how to make a mask, and you see the start of the production. https://lbpost.com/hi-lo/video-how-to-make-a-face-mask-by-textile-superhero- carole-frances-lung
Flux Art Space is currently open for window-viewing only. The exhibition can be enjoyed 24/7 from the sidewalk. We also have two opportunities to meet Frau – one in person and one over Zoom.
If you’re in Southern California, mask up and join Frau (from a safe distance) in celebrating the opening of the show by driving by or walking up to the window on Saturday, March 20th, between 1- 3 pm. And, from wherever you are in the world, join Frau Fiber virtually on Saturday, April 3, at 11:30am (Pacific Time) for Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake) on Zoom. Email for the link
Kaffee und Kuchen is one of Frau Fiber’s most beloved traditions. In Apoloda Germany, Frau Fiber’s hometown, she would stroll to Backerei Doepel on Wihelm Strasse with a friend for a leisurely cup of coffee, a slice of cake, and lively conversation. Frau Fiber invites you to join her virtually from the Institute 4 Labor Generosity Workers & Uniforms south of the 110 freeway, for a slice of cake, cup of coffee, and conversation.
Frau Fiber will be baking a Covered Apple Pie from her favorite East German Cooking website https://www.erichserbe.de/075 You are invited to try this recipe, bake one of your favorites, or purchase from your favorite bakery.
About the Artist:
Carole Frances Lung is an artist, soft power guerilla activist, and Associate Professor of Fashion Fiber and Materials, at California State University Los Angeles. Through her alter ego Frau Fiber, Carole activates a vocabulary of fashion and textile production and consumption, crafting of one-of-a-kind garments, installations, performances, and social sculpture, paying homage to labor, textile and apparel manufacturing histories and contemporary production systems. Her slow durational practice of careful listening, problem solving, skill sharing and community building engages in hands-on experiences, which attempt to instigate change in the current Fast Fashion system. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious art awards and has exhibited and lectured widely. Carole maintains the Institute for Labor Generosity Workers and Uniforms, Frau Fiber’s headquarters and experimental factory in The Loft, a warehouse building in San Pedro, CA.
See https://carolefranceslung.wordpress.com/ and https://ilgwu.wordpress.com/
About Flux Art Space:
Founded in 2018, Flux Art Space connects emerging and mid-career artists with each other and with members of the vibrant community of Long Beach—and southern California—through exhibitions, workshops, and gatherings.
Flux Art Space encourages cross-cultural and cross-generational dialogue and celebrates creative expression as an integral part of life. We’re especially interested in presenting experimental and experiential works, small-scale events and workshops.
In an effort to do our part to keep members of our community safe and healthy during the current pandemic, Flux Art Space is currently open for window viewing only and online, via Instagram and Facebook (@fluxartspace).
FLUX ART SPACE
410 Termino Avenue Long Beach, CA 90814
http://www.facebook.com/fluxartspace/
http://www.instagram.com/fluxartspace/
Contact:
Betsy Lohrer Hall, Director/ Curator
(562) 930-9229
The Huntington Beach Art Center Presents
