Dig into any culture and you will find many cultures within from many places and times. Even the ones we know of were preceded by countless others forgotten by history. Islamic patterns were influenced by Greek geometry, Sanskrit texts, and Byzantine architecture. Flamenco was the product of gypsies originally from India, mixed with Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Iberian traditions. No matter how "pure" a culture or its product may seem, it is always the result of many ingredients and peoples.

Pearlman and Marques created WEFT for the exhibition Al-Tiba9, at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Pearlman made a site specific sculpture made of laser cut paper, plastic garbage bags, and incandescent lights. Unlike her hand cut paper pieces, these are based on familiar repeating geometric patterns from Japanese, Islamic, Jewish and other cultures that she abstracted by computer and had laser cut from drawing paper. WEFT contains both the harmony and tension between a surprising mix of ancient and new materials, ideas, cultures and processes.

Marques performed a live improvisation based on the same ideas of cultural complexity, fusing contemporary jazz, Flamenco jazz, and Latin jazz: three extremely sophisticated musical styles that all are based on a mixture of European music and the African diaspora, among other influences.

WEFT
2017
A collaboration by Mia Pearlman (sculpture) and Albert Marques (music)
Laser cut paper, plastic, garbage bags, lights, paper clips
Al-Tiba9, University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain