H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS
APRIL- MAY 2022

As an American child living in a strict Catholic house, Michael Laundry was not allowed to swear. The titular significance of Laundry’s installation “H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks” is a euphemistic stand-in for “hell”. In this exhibition, motifs made in VR are transmogrified onto jacquard pieces woven on a digital loom. The weave is framed by a tufted frame, with a video installation above. The phallic motifs in the weave playfully, evasively, intentionally, interact with multiple 3D printed sculptures. All of this is brought to life in a choreographed dance routine on rollerblades. The work may be a critique of the macho posing of Putin’s totalitarian tendencies to put civil society on ice, or perhaps it might be Laundry’s on story of regret.  

Laundry paints and illustrates in VR. Their digital paintbrush spills across the photography of Putin onto tufted carpets and vinyl floor-prints. Laundry starts with a solid 3D sculpture, then stretches it out across physical materials. A strand of exploration for this project is to consider the way that the warping of a motif made in VR can occur physically by using thicker yarns to elongate the motif in the digital weave. In this way, Laundry brings attention to the stretching of the truth in an intensely personal refusal of state-sponsored misinformation.

The culminating attention of the work centres on a strange story about a corncob overheard between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Late last year, the two paused for a chat during a friendly hockey match following their talks in Strelna, outside St. Petersburg, Russia a few days before Christmas.



Costume Design‭: Michael Laundry

Makeup‭: ‬Michael Laundry

Set Design‭: ‬Michael Laundry

Choreography‭: ‬Michael Laundry

Script‭: ‬Michael Laundry

Filming‭: ‬Myclef Laun‭

Sound Installations‭: ‬Michael Laundry




Salhus Textile Industry Museum,  ‬2022 ‬