VETERANS DAY

GOOGLE DOODLE FEATURES CRAFT ARTIST

In honor of Veteran's Day, Google has engaged Air Force veteran and artist Jenn Hassin for today's "Google Doodle". Some may remember the last craft-related Google Doodle featuring Ruth Asawa in May 2019 in honor of Asian-American Pacific Islander month, but today, the doodle takes a different tone. 

Hassin constructed the Doodle from actual military uniforms with at least one from each of the 10 branches, from the Vietnam War to today. "All were entrusted to me with the promise that I would do my best to honor our nation's military and veterans with their transformed uniforms," she told Google. "The final Doodle holds hundreds of rolled up pieces of paper that are made from these once worn, but now deconstructed, military uniforms."

​In order to turn the scraps of military uniforms into paper, Hassin cuts her samples into tiny pieces and uses a Hollander beater to turn the uniforms into pulp, where she then screens the pulp into paper, allows it to dry and arranges the hand-made paper into her final art piece.

Hassin is a Texas born artist who currently resides between Texas and New York while she attends Columbia University’s Master of Fine Arts program with a focus on Social Practice and Installation. She graduated with a degree in Studio Art in 2012 from Saint Edward’s University after serving in the United States Air Force. Some of her most poignant installations, Letters of Sacrifice and A Battle Lost, are currently on display in West Point at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School in New York. Hassin’s work has been exhibited at the Pentagon, Smithsonian, and is in a number of university and private collections. Hassin uses found materials, such as clothing, paper, metal, ceramics and glass, that she transforms and manipulates to create a visual for her subject matter, giving the material itself a voice in her art. 
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Learn More about the artist

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HISTORY OF VETERANS IN CRAFT

The studio craft movement and the US military are closely tied together in a long history through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and G.I. Bill. Many of the early leaders in the the American Studio Craft Movement benefited from the GI Bill, including Harvey Littleton, Sam Maloof, Peter Volkous, and Ed Rossbach, all 1997 James Renwick Alliance Masters of the Medium Awardees.

To learn more about this history, we encourage you to watch the Service episode of Craft in America, who was awarded a 2020 James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award.  This episode documents the power of the handmade to inspire, motivate and heal. Featured artists include Eugene Burks Jr., Pam DeLuco, Judas Recendez, Ehren Tool and Peter Voulkos. 
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​​Craft in America is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to promote and advance original handcrafted work, through programs in all media.  Craft in America includes the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning PBS television documentary series, website, and Craft in America Center. As a part of their educational outreach, the center provides artist-led workshops to underserved school children, and provide educational guides to accompany the recorded series. 

Learn more about craft in america