Club Curiosity: Messy Threads

Madison Frilot, Program Manager at Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, a San Francisco nonprofit best described as a cultural hub and creative haven, invited Bad Art Club to design a playful, novel art activation for Club Curiosity, the unofficial kick-off party to SF Art Week.

Club Curiosity was a sold out celebration attended by hundreds of people. Designed to be an adult playground, it featured an immersive lighting installation by Illuminate, a bounce house, a ball pit and all-vinyl DJ sets. There was even an ice cream truck. Our collective loom was meant to spark connection amongst guests and elevate the “inner child” theme of the event by inviting tactile play, experimentation and joyful collaboration in the making of a shared artwork.

The concept was inspired by the deeper impact of weaving on well-being. Research shows that soothing, repetitive action increases mindful presence and down-regulates the nervous system, lending to feelings of safety and greater openness.

We wanted to invite guests into a decommodified process of making, free of expectations and without an end goal. Bad Art Club encourages participants to let go of the outcome in favor of focusing on how it feels, moment to moment, to be in the creative process with others.

Every part of Messy Threads was sourced from our community. The fabric was collected from seven San Francisco residents who responded to a “Buy Nothing” group post on Facebook, and cut into 300+ strips by 3 volunteers over 6 hours. The base was made from an old office whiteboard stand sourced from Urban Ore, a long-standing reclaimed materials shop in Oakland. The frame was custom built in collaboration with a friend and professional woodworker, Thomas Rugg, to fit the exact specifications of the base.

The loom was built to be durable, transportable, aesthetically pleasing and highly accessible. The angle and height of the weaving apparatus is adjustable and the loom is two-sided, accommodating up to 10 weavers of any height, age and physical ability at any given time.

The loom was set up in an alcove on the main floor, attracting visitors with a vibrant “Bad Art Club” sign and lots of draped fabric scraps. Two Bad Art Club facilitators welcomed people into the space and invited them to weave in whatever ways they wanted. Over the four-hour event, some guests lingered for 30 minutes or more, weaving many strands, while others wove a single strip and moved along to the next activity.

Midway through the night, a woman tapped Jules, Bad Art Club’s founder, on the shoulder and greeted her by name. It was Lucy, who had given us a bag of fabric scraps a few days earlier. When Jules brought her to the loom and she saw her old fabrics woven into the tapestry, she got emotional. Neither of them could believe the synchronicity.

Guests wove more than 300 strips of reclaimed fabric into Messy Threads, reaching over, ducking under, swapping places and passing threads amongst themselves.

One woman in her mid-60s sat and chatted with people weaving on the loom for over an hour. She expressed gratitude for having an excuse to do something with her hands and connect with people at the party in a novel and meaningful way. She became a fan of Bad Art Club and, months later, joined the Bad Art Club Summer Camp retreat.

The tapestry was tied off after the event, taken off of the loom, displayed at Bad Art HQ, and then gifted to a Bad Art Club participant who expressed genuine awe and inspiration when she saw it. Gifting and generosity are deeply embedded in the fibers of Bad Art Club.

In the middle of a bumping party, the Bad Art Club alcove became the place people came to slow down.