We made it. We all barely survived. You want to know what is not a good idea?  Driving to and from Philly in a snowstorm.  We still had a blast, however.  The class arrived around noon, hitting up the Fabric Warehouse and Museum first.  As a whole, the Cai Guo-Qiang exhibit was much more underwhelming than i expected, apart from the commissioned piece, Time Flies Like a Weaving Shuttle.  The work involves the participation of five weavers from the Tu Family clan of the Xiangxi region in Hunan province, China, who have taken up residence in Philadelphia for three months at the workshop’s artist apartments, and are working daily in the galleries on a series of tapestries.  The looms were giant with a thousand moving parts.  Hand dyed yarns were hanging from the tops of the machines and piled on shelves, while the finished product was displayed on the long concrete walls.  For a brief moment, I forgot the craft vs. art argument and enjoyed the intricate work these ladies were performing.

It turns out Philagrafika is expensive and sprinkled throughout the city, so we only stopped at a couple of galleries, most notably the Crane Arts video installations and photography studio.  Some photographers that cought my eye included the works of Nathan Baker, Klara Kallstrom, and Thobias Faldt.

Here are a few photographs for your eyes to enjoy: