Gleb Maiboroda
Assistant TXT department and weaving workshop
1. What are you currently working on?
"At the moment I am doing a lot of different things at the same moment. [But that is anyway kind of the way I always work]. In the beginning of the quarantine I was really busy thinking of alternative modes of making, especially when most of the essential tools are missing. So, I have started to draw digitally and really enjoy that. It is like drawing on real paper, instead you can change sizes, layers, colours at any moment. I am completely fascinated with that process!"
2. What has changed for you now that the Rietveld buildings are closed for classes and meetings?
"I really miss being in the workshop and the TXT department, especially the TXT community. I work in the weaving workshop and usually it is a physical labour. Together with students we count, hold, stretch and cut endless yarns with our hands; we use our bodies to prepare the weaving looms - our legs, arms, backs, bended, entangled, criss-crossed. Working there is like dancing amongst the threads, at the moment nobody can dance together."
3. And what is staying the same?
"Nothing is staying the same. Really. Everything changed, the routine, the work, the ways of communication, even the ways of thinking, however, I believe it is also necessary to do things like that, especially in art practice. If you give yourself time without forcing anything, unexpected and exciting things can happen. Right now, the earth is trying to say something to all of us, and I think we should stop for a moment and listen. Anyway, my heart is excited, but also crying sometimes."
4. Do you have a tip for our students, staff or alumni to make these isolating times a little bit more joyful?
"Take this time to understand what you really want! Don't be afraid of anything! Take time for things, as a long as you want! Forget about about any pressure you might experience from your friends, colleagues, fellow students, media, mostly yourself! The rules are not the same anymore! The Earth is changing, change together with it!"
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