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Moody's work is part of a renaissance of interest in regional textile history and "cotton mill culture," encompassing numerous conferences, hundreds of oral history projects, a thriving Textile Heritage Center in Cooleemee, NC, and an upcoming Textile Heritage weekend in Kannapolis in late April. Adding to this renaissance, and hand in hand with Moody's work, the Charlotte Symphony commissioned veteran Charlotte composer David Crowe to write a chamber ensemble piece revolving around cotton mill life. Crowe immersed himself in the stories of mill life through a series of meetings and oral history sessions organized by the Symphony, and will premiere the chamber piece on Sunday, April 10, at The Light Factory. The new interest in mill culture has come too late to save much of its remnants, and Moody's work reflects that reality.
For instance, 65 mill houses were offered to the Lowell and McAdenville fire departments for training with controlled burns. A new development was planned. In Moody's piece titled "McAdenville," glossy black photo paper floats above a background surface pulsing the color of fire and bright red blood. Centered on each black panel is a photograph of parts of the homes — a formica countertop, a kitchen table, overgrown bushes climbing siding, an inflatable pool in a dirt yard, a single window in an empty room. The homes are not merely vacant, they're abandoned — soulless hulls begging to be burned. The text reads down the center of the piece:
"And no more giggling,
Or shrieking,
Or snuggling or sleeping,
No more whispering,
Birthing, or loving or nursing.
And no more planting,
Or weeding, canning or steaming.
No laughing, bawling, kissing, or squabbling.
There'll be no phoning,
Confiding, cussing, or grieving.
Only remembering."
As I write some of Moody's prose poems, they sound a bit maudlin to my ear, unnecessarily sentimental. These same passages seen printed in large type down the glossy quilted surface are not maudlin. In the larger context, they mutate to higher form. Surrounded by the images, the works become imbedded in the narrative and are chemically exempted from the slight of my sardonic mind. Empathy trumps parody — the wail of a lost child can't be mocked.
In 1941, photographer Walker Evans and writer James Agee produced a book chronicling the lives of three migrant farm families in rural Alabama. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is full of brilliant and difficult prose, and, as one critic put it, it is not a novel and not journalism, but a puzzle which Agee could not piece together.
Moody's art also praises "famous" men (and women and children), and is neither a novel nor journalism, but a simple elegiac puzzle that fits together well. His work manages to spin whole cloth from fragments, to weave a palatable — even beautiful — fiction from a passel of cold hard fact.
"Sunset" is a tapestry of 20 blocks of color — magenta, cobalt blue, faded pink, almond and sand — imprinted with columns of obituaries from the Rock Hill area. Strewn across the surface of each colored panel are photograms of pieces of yarn, shadows of kinked cotton floating across the surface. Moody's prose tells a story: "Her last days came with a great disorientation. Falling into a state of almost childlike wandering her mind was incapable of keeping to the present. She took to carrying out her lifelong duties in the hubbub of the hospital ward. For 43 years she'd managed the mill finishing room, searching for small flaws in bolts of cloth about to be shipped. Now she continued by picking at threads in midair and by raising the nap on the long cloth which would soon shroud her for the final journey."
Moody gives a velvet tongue to a mute community. A tree has fallen and is vanishing in the forest and Moody whispers us the news. Let us now praise famous men. Moody, his work and the subjects of his work — the men and women and children of the evaporating textile industry — deserve praise. None is famous, nor ever will be, except perhaps, in the eyes of God. Paris Hilton understands that, but I do not.
The exhibit Textile Towns will be on display this Friday through May 12 in the Knight Gallery at The Light Factory at Spirit Square. An opening reception will be held 6-9pm Friday, with artist Phil Moody in attendance, along with composer David Crowe who will preview the chamber ensemble piece written specifically for this exhibit. For more information, call 704-333-9755, or go online to www.lightfactory.org.
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Calendar
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I've Had It: Hot S**t Tour @ N.C. Music Factory
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Open Mic Comedy Nights with Craig Collin @ Carolina Beer Temple.
- Mon., May 6, 6:30-9 p.m., Mon., May 20, 6:30-9 p.m., Mon., June 3, 6:30-9 p.m. and Mon., June 17, 6:30-9 p.m.
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NEW WINDOW GALLERY-Pat Rhea-ACRYLIC PAINTINGS-April 05-30 2024 VALDESE, NC 28690 @ New Window Gallery/Play It Again Records
- Through April 30, 12 p.m.
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Derek Hough - Symphony Of Dance @ Ovens Auditorium
- Thu., April 25, 7:30 p.m.
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"Blood Residue Analysis of Paleoamerican Stone Tools in the Carolinas" @ Native American Studies Center
- Fri., April 26, 12-1 p.m.
