Magazine

Celebrating 50 years of finding cures and saving children. LABOR OF LOVE Kasten uses only a small number of machines in his work, wanting to maintain the natural element of his creations. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital® has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other deadly diseases. And we do it for free. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives. Today, millions of children around the world are benefiting from St Jude's discoveries. With your help, we will find the answers to save every child with cancer and other deadly diseases. the owner, Andy Oates, a master weaver who subscribed to the Bauhaus movement and who had studied at Black Mountain College in North Carolina with some of the great- est minds of the 20th century, including inventor/theorist Buckminster Fuller and artists Josef and Anni Albers . Kasten was entranced by the discipline that handweav- ing required — and the way that the simple, almost ritualistic actions masked a deep in- ternal life. "I once spent a year weaving pure white fabric with an associate," he recalls. "Five days a week, can you imagine?" He chuckles. "It's disappointing when someone visits the studio and asks, 'Is it boring?' Is it boring to write a novel? How about practic- ing the same piece of music thousands of times over?" A modern-day textile factory sacrifi ces Caitlin age 17, Ewing sarcoma Call now to help. 800.822.6344 | stjude.org 34 JANUARY 15, 2012 AA.COM/AMERICANWAY internal life for speed and endless repro- ducibility. Glossy metal air and water-jet looms churn out product so quickly it's im- possible to tell at first glance whether it's fabric or paper or some other base element for civilization that's being created. Touring one is like being inside of a complex, multi- tentacled machine; you feel out of place. By contrast, not a lick of work is possible in Kas- ten's studio without a human driving force. In the largest room, a 38-year-old weaver named Mario Aragon is winding the beam

• Cover