January Loops and Bloops

On January 1, 2023, we began collaborating on an art project: Lauren made an embroidery (Red #1) and Mike made a short instrumental electronic track (Black #1). On January 2, each of us looked at what the other had made the day before, and made a new piece of our own in response. We passed back and forth like this—between embroidery and music—for the whole month.

In the end, each of us had made 31 pieces, one for each day of January, split into two threads: a Red Thread, and a Black Thread. We posted them to Instagram as we went along, and we've also uploaded them here so you can see them in order, and follow the connections between them as the threads progress.

Thanks for looking/listening!

Lauren & Mike

Red Thread

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with red embroidered lines in the center in the shape of an oval with a horizontal line above it, with arrows at each end of the line. Arrows show directionality in the oval, going in a clockwise loop

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with red embroidered lines. There’s a stepped line going diagonally from the bottom left to top right corner, with 4 overlapping oval lines embroidered on top of that.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with red embroidered lines. At the bottom of the square is a ribbon shape that looks like it’s twisted in the middle. Above that is a rounded rectangle, a horizontal line of short vertical red stitches, and another short row of vertical stitches and Xs.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with an abstract shape made of red embroidered lines that look like a topographical map.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with a series of variegated red embroidered squares scattered, decreasing in size from the top to the bottom of the panel.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with a series of red embroidered outlined squares and rectangles scattered throughout the panel. In the bottom right corner is a pixelated frog shape outlined in red.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with different sizes of circles and French knots stitched in red variegated thread.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square. Red thread makes stitched lines to create the perspective of looking down a hallway. There’s a door that’s ajar at the very end of the hallway. Two other doors are ajar along the hallway, one on the left and one on the right.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square. Red thread is embroidered into what looks like two crossing beams of light.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square. Red thread is embroidered in diagonal lines that radiate out from a horizon.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square. 8 vertical ovals embroidered in red variegated thread overlap as they span the width of the square. The ovals are longest in the middle and decrease in size as they extend to the edges.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with a series of 5 bent pipes next to each other and a dashed line weaving in and out of each pipe.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with 2 overlapping abstract rounded shapes in red embroidered lines, making an orb shape.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with 4 vertical rectangles ascending from left to right, stitched in red variegated thread. Each rectangle has an increasing number of short horizontal lines overlapping the long edges.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with a thick outline of an oval embroidered in red thread. Variegated red stitches form thin, horizontal lines of varying lengths coming out of the oval.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with a circle made of radiating running stitch lines embroidered in red thread.

Black Thread

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black and grey embroidery. Five black outlined rectangles are in a horizontal line in the middle of the square. Two lines swoop from the lower left corner to the upper right corner. Short grey stitches make dashed verticals lines under and through some of the rectangles.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with grey and black embroidered lines. There’s a vertical black line in the center of the square with a diagonal dashed line going through it at an angle. At the top of the dashed line are 3 small rectangles In a horizontal line. At the bottom of the dashed line is an arrow pointing to the letter F. There are light stitches in pairs creating a diagonal line through the center of the square and two grey crescent-shaped lines in the top right corner.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered lines. There are two horizontal jagged lines, one at the top going across the square, one at the bottom going from the midline to the the edge of the square. In between these two lines are outlines of five rectangles in a horizontal row. Above and to the right of the upper jagged line is a row of short vertical stitches.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered lines. There are two solid lines swooping—one up and one down—at the top and bottom of the square. There’s a dashed line and an abstract loopy shape in the middle of the square and a rectangle made up of short horizontal stitches.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered lines. A illustration of a ribbon snaking up and down across the square. There are two sets of stepped light grey lines visible behind the ribbons.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered lines. There are 8 vertical black lines dispersed across the square. A circle is in the middle of the square, giving the appearance of bending/pushing another set of 8 vertical lines to the right.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered lines. There’s a circular shape in the muffle of the square that has pokey and spiked lines coming out of it.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black and grey embroidered lines going horizontally across the square to create what looks like a line graph.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered horizontal and vertical lines, a quadrilateral shape, and an oval creating a diagram.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square, with black embroidered vertical rectangles in running stitch and backstitch moving across the square, and then short vertical pairs of lines in rows on the right hand side of the square.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with 5 sets of diagonal lines in running stitch with circles on the end of each line.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with a grid of thin lines embroidered in black thread. A few circles of different sizes are stitched over the grid.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square with rows of diagonal running stitch in black thread going across the square, except for negative space in the center in the shape of a cloud.

Overhead photo of white fabric 8”x8” square. A wobbly rounded shape that overlap a few times is embroidered in black thread.