In memory of the unknown artist: Japanese fabric 1999

In Vivienne Binns’s ‘In memory of the unknown artist’ series 1996–ongoing, she paints found decorative items that are not typically given the status of ‘art’, such as domestic textiles, tapa (barkcloth), tiles and linoleum. By meticulously painting images of these items, created by unknown makers, Binns highlights how creativity is widely dispersed throughout diverse populations and communities. In 1999, she wrote:

Until recent times and even today these objects might only be seen together in an op-shop or an eclectic domestic setting without high art style or ‘good taste’. My life as an artist has been concerned with questions such as: What is this thing called art and what does it mean for humans? . . . Why are there things made by humans which are called ‘art’ by some and something else by others?