This project, completed as my cumulative experience for the Master of Arts in Instructional Technology and Learning Science (ITLS) degree from Utah State University.
While other historical fiber arts and techniques have been documented and recreated, few resources exist for modern crafters to reproduce ancient Puebloan looped fabrics like those found in dwellings in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. This project aims to fill this gap, introducing the public to the process of learning to recreate the looping technique using modern methods of short-form media publication.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a resurgence of crochet and other fiber arts on social media platforms like TikTok as people looked for ways to pass the time safe from potential viral exposure. The choice to use TikTok is based on the goal to engage the project’s audience by leveraging this trend, blending the style of crochet tutorial videos and amateur informative journalism accounts on TikTok.
The project sought to enable the viewers to:
View the project videos on my TikTok account:
@eldersbrad
To introduce the project and offer my own background in the subject matter, I created a video showcasing the exhibit on ancient textiles at the Natural History Museum of Utah.
@eldersbrad Gathering hobbies like infinity stones but at least this time it’s got meaning behind it! #textiles #ancienttextiles #indigenousamericans #nativeamerican #prehistoric #fibercraft #utah #pueblo #arizona #weaving #fibernerds ♬ original sound - eldersbrad
This video was created using footage and narration recorded on my smartphone, combined and edited with Apple iMovie. While more advanced tools are helpful, with the right amount of preparation and care, effective videos can be made using the most accessible tools.
The tone and style of the video were meant to mimic other styles of video on the TikTok platform, with small injections of humor to maintain engagement.
An additional hurdle in the design process of this project was the need to learn the subject matter myself. While I was in contact with a subject matter expert during the project, I was unable to collaborate with her. And so I needed to rely on relatively scant online resources for learning the subject matter.
Part of the strategy I outlined for the project was to leverage my learning process to make the content more relatable to the viewers; if they saw that I could do it, they might feel more enabled to as well. This video was shot on my smartphone directly in the TikTok app and included photo backgrounds and overlays, effects accessible in the Tikotk video editor interface.
@eldersbrad Storytime all about how i learned to do an ancient fibercraft. Ill be uploding my basic tutorials here this weekend. Check out Sally Pointer, Indigodragonfly, and Donna Kallner on YouTube to see more tutorials on how to do this ancient craft! #greenscreen #textiles #ancienttextiles #indigenousamericans #prehistoric #fibercraft #pueblo #fibernerds #research #practicalresearch ♬ original sound - eldersbrad
Next I created and released the tutorial videos for the project. These were shot using a dedicated Sony video camera and edited in Adobe Premiere Pro. This more professional setup enabled me to create videos with consistent style and image quality. They were easy to batch process and then upload to TikTok.
Only one of the videos I created will be embedded here, you can view the rest on my TikTok profile.
@eldersbrad Learn the basic looping stitch with me! This is very similar to the blanket stitch, and it’s pretty straightforward. For more info on looping, check out Sally Pointer’s video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/HmXqSlxLN_Q #crafting #fibercraft #yarn #ancienttextiles #ancientcraft #nativeamericanhistory #looping #textiles #prehistoric #fibernerd #pueblo ♬ original sound - eldersbrad
To wrap up the project, I created a video showcasing the historical and anthropological context surrounding the craft. This was written with a focus on treating the people involved with equity and justice, since they have historically been the victims of oppression and harmful stereotype. This video was again created in-app, using TikTok's video editing interface.
@eldersbrad A little of the history behind the fibercraft I’ve been learning over the past few months. The Ancestral Puebloans had a rich and thriving civilization, evident in the functional and artful architecture and artifacts they left behind. #fibercraft #ancienttextiles #nativeamericanhistory #looping #prehistoric #fibernerd #greenscreen ♬ Countryside - Andrew Joy
The aim of the project was to create a space conducive to the creation of a learner community. Such a community involves people accessing resources and collaborating with each other throughout the learning process. In designing and developing the resources for the project, I have seen that it is very reasonable to use TikTok to create a community of learning.
Based on the limited reception to the project, I wasn't able to foster the community of learning that I had planned on. However, thanks to the accessibility of the tools for creation and the ways that TikTok and other short-form video platforms enable community collaboration, it's promising for future projects, perhaps projects not focused on such obscure and focused subject matter.