Mcculloch, Alix

13/07/2009

Audio file duration: 00:22:07 Format of original recording: wav 44.1 khz 16 bit MicportPro. Publically available copy: MP3 format.

These recordings are part of the One & Other interview series that has been licensed by the Wellcome Trust for public use under Creative Commons Attribution-non commercial-Share Alike 3.00 UK. This means that anyone based in the UK can share and remix the material, as long as it is for non-commercial purposes. Credits, where given, should be to the library at Wellcome Collection, London. (c) Wellcome Trust.

Alix Mccolloch lives in Tunbridge Wells but was born in South London. She likes that the project is in a public space and that there are no guidelines. She is going to take a spinning wheel on the plinth and spin fleece into yarn. Spinning and textile handcrafts are very important to her, and have been since childhood. The ability to make something gives you a sense of self worth and involves you in a community. Her spinning wheel comes from New Zealand. She knits and spins in several groups but is not part of guilds. She demonstrates in public places and agricultural shows; she finds this causes lots of people to tell her stories. Everything is important to her; if she had to say one thing she would say not attaching to much importance to lack and what the media and banks tell us. She is taking part for anyone who watches and wants to share in it. She sees individual expression as endlessly entertaining. She grew up in the 1970s and her handcraft meant she went against the grain of social life at the time. She doesn't consider the handwork she does as a political statement, it is more about community and self-worth. She is a project manager in government publishing and teaches textile crafts part-time.