Collaborate to Cure Empty Net Syndrome!
Over a year ago New Craft Artists in Action team captain launched Net Works in Boston. Bringing together makers and players in collaborative exchange, the project aims to create functional, hand-crafted basketball nets for neglected public hoops. This project is brought to participants via traveling workshops, pickup games, web demonstrations, and internet cataloging.
Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball in Springfield, MA in 1891, posing a recycled peach basket as the first hoop. Now nets help break a ball’s fall, give players a sense of depth for good aim, and allow refs to see that a basket was made. Beyond these functions, nets add to the audio, kinetic, and aesthetic experience that leave players striving for “Nothin But Net”.
This project is inspired by a mapping process and DIY form of slow production, utilizing abandoned space and the internet as public venues. The process aims to build a pro-active relationships between artists, athletes, and neighbors while tracing connections between these various networks via logged hoop coordinates.
Our nets have since spread as far as South Africa and we've gained increasing interest via social media, exhibitions, and publication. Help us bring this structure back to its woven roots and expand the potential for creative expression. We encourage you to initiate Net Works in your city or participate via our google map by uploading images of lacking courts that you see around town.
E-mail Maria: molteninetworks@gmail.com to contribute locations on our GOOGLE MAP.
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Players in the NCAA Division:
- YarnOverTime: Dream team of fiber artists Maria Molteni, Andrea Sherrill Evans, Taylor McVay-Tynes, Cara Kuball, Mallory Biggins, Lizzie Curran, and Samantha Fields
- Golden Arrows: goldenarrows.us
Graphic design duo Nerissa Cooney and Alexander Hage
- Publication Studio Boston: publicationstudioboston.tumblr.com
Independent press- Sam Gould, Leah Craig, Nate Grossman
- Portable Utopia: portableutopia.org
Kevin Clancy's mobile resource library and social space
- Lily Sheng: lilyjuesheng.com
Video artist
- Bheki Dube: Troyeville, Johannesburg Team Manager
Video artist
- Shane Artsy: Captain of the Cheerleading Squad- Fly Girl and Stitch Bitch
