Performance by Frau Fiber

KO (Knock Off) Enterprises: Roadmap to a Living Wage

Performance by Carole Frances Lung, aka Frau Fiber

Saturday, August 22, 2015
12:00 noon – 5:00 pm

Join us at the Craft in America Center on Saturday, August 22 for a live performance by Carole Frances Lung, aka Frau Fiber, who will present K.O. (Knock Off) Enterprises: Roadmap to a Living Wage. Frau Fiber will create knock-off H&M garments in the Center’s front window from 12 noon – 5pm with the help of a hand-crank sewing machine. At the conclusion of her performance there will be a short Q&A session.

Carole Frances Lung is an artist, activist, and scholar living in Long Beach, CA. Through her alter ego Frau Fiber, Lung creates performances that fuse activism and cultural criticism with spirited crafting. She investigates the human cost of mass production and consumption, addressing issues of value and time through the thoroughly hand-made construction and salvaging of garments. It is her hope that this micro production will provide a platform to educating shoppers about the labor behind their purchases. Lung is an Assistant Professor of Fashion at California State University Los Angeles. www.carolefranceslung.org

Frau Fiber’s performance is part of an event series accompanying the Center’s current exhibition, California Masters: State of the Arts.

California Masters will be on view at the Craft in America Center from July 11 – October 3, 2015 with related talks and events scheduled. The exhibition includes the following artists: Tanya Aguiniga, Julie Chen, Marilyn da Silva, Katherine Gray, Marvin Lipofsky, Wendy Maruyama, Laura Mays, Steven Portigal, Sandy Simon, Christina Smith, Carol Shaw-Sutton, and Consuelo Jimenez Underwood. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with California Handmade: State of the Arts, on view at the Maloof Foundation through January 2, 2016.

Two pedestrians stop to see Frau work, and come inside for a conversation.
Two pedestrians stop to see Frau work, and come inside for a conversation.
Frau Fiber getting started in the Center Window
Frau Fiber getting started in the Center Window
Carole Frances Lung, KO (Knock Off) Enterprises: Roadmap to a Living Wage, 2015
Carole Frances Lung, KO (Knock Off) Enterprises: Roadmap to a Living Wage, 2015. Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo photograph. Carole Frances Lung is a fiber artist whose performances fuse cultural criticism with spirited crafting. Lung’s alter ego, Frau Fiber, is a former East German garment worker turned activist who calls attention to unjust global labor practices and pays homage to textile manufacturing histories through a feminist lens. She investigates the human cost of mass production and consumption, addressing issues of value and time in the modern economy. For her KO Enterprises performance on August 22, 2015 at the Craft in America Center, Frau recreated an H&M clothing collection by hand with the help of a hand-crank sewing machine. It is her hope that micro production will provide a platform for educating shoppers about the labor behind their purchases.