NEWSCLOTH/OBJECT.03
I grew up in a household where being resourceful was always valued. My dad used to use cut-up metal wire hangers to tie things together. My mom would save all the glass jars to store other goods in. The infamous tin cookie box—I mean, this one might be a universal thing at this point—but the holiday cookie tin box never had cookies in it. It was a repair sewing kit.
I just had dinner at one of my best friend’s family’s home the other day. They laid out newspaper on the table as a tablecloth, and we shared a family dinner. I hadn’t had a home-cooked dinner like that in a long time, and it reminded me of how I grew up.
The mailbox came with all sorts of “tablecloths.” Big 5 tablecloths, Stater Bros tablecloths, local business tablecloths. Anything with that newspaper texture was never read, but it was always on the table in front of us. As I shared that dinner moment with my friend’s family, I had an epiphany. I wanted to capture that feeling that made me feel connected to my roots—my Asian roots.
Big 5, Stater Bros, $2.99 or $.99 ads spread across my table, overlapped to create a single-use tablecloth. I thought it should be a permanent homage to our resourcefulness. It wasn’t because we wanted to be sustainable—that term didn’t even exist at the time. It was just our little hack to make our lives easier, especially growing up in a family of six.
I want to make a linen-cotton blend tablecloth using multiple different ad prints from local businesses, arranged so they naturally overlap to cover a dinner table. I want each ad to be individually printed and then stitched together to create one large tablecloth. I don’t want it to be a single print—I want it to be a collage of prints sewn together. The effect should feel nostalgic but elevated—like I’m preserving a cultural practice as usable art.
I just had dinner at one of my best friend’s family’s home the other day. They laid out newspaper on the table as a tablecloth, and we shared a family dinner. I hadn’t had a home-cooked dinner like that in a long time, and it reminded me of how I grew up.
The mailbox came with all sorts of “tablecloths.” Big 5 tablecloths, Stater Bros tablecloths, local business tablecloths. Anything with that newspaper texture was never read, but it was always on the table in front of us. As I shared that dinner moment with my friend’s family, I had an epiphany. I wanted to capture that feeling that made me feel connected to my roots—my Asian roots.
Big 5, Stater Bros, $2.99 or $.99 ads spread across my table, overlapped to create a single-use tablecloth. I thought it should be a permanent homage to our resourcefulness. It wasn’t because we wanted to be sustainable—that term didn’t even exist at the time. It was just our little hack to make our lives easier, especially growing up in a family of six.
I want to make a linen-cotton blend tablecloth using multiple different ad prints from local businesses, arranged so they naturally overlap to cover a dinner table. I want each ad to be individually printed and then stitched together to create one large tablecloth. I don’t want it to be a single print—I want it to be a collage of prints sewn together. The effect should feel nostalgic but elevated—like I’m preserving a cultural practice as usable art.
