All The Threads You Left Behind is now offline.

The piece was live for the duration of November 2021 but is now finished.

On this page, you can view some images from the livestreamed performance, some screenshots of the online experience, and view the traces left by visitors in the Visitors’ Book.

Follow Anna Rathbone on Instagram to be the first to hear when the piece will be returning.

A close-up image of a pile of skeins of embroidery thread. All of the threads are a little tangled, and of various different colours, from sombre purples to brash yellows. From just out of frame, a close-by bright light illuminates the pile. The graininess of the image and the soft lighting gives the image a cosy feel. — _{Image by Jade Ayino}

About the piece

All The Threads You Left Behind is a live art piece about grief, created by Anna Rathbone.

Previously an in-person 1:1 performance installation, this digital version was commissioned by Bristol Old Vic Ferment and made possible by the Genesis Foundation Kickstart Fund.

A close-up photo of Anna's hand sewing. The needle is small, almost invisible. In her other hand, she holds a small notebook - a page of which is being used for sewing into. The page is a complex criss-cross of lines. Each one is a different colour, crossing from one side of the page to another. Anna has sewed them one at a time, so they layer on top of each other, and they curve and wind in bendy lines. The impression is of something haphazard yet delicate. The image is lit softly by a close-by lamp.

A tin. The lid of the tin has an image of hundres of colourful clothes buttons. The lid is slightly ajar, and inside you can spy some skeins of embroidery thread.

A close up of a bright yellow sewing machine wrapped with fairy lights and a clear jar with more lights bundled inside. The surroundings of the image are dark, so the lights make it feel very cosy.

A photo of Anna Rathbone in situ for the performance of All The Threads. Anna is a slim white woman with glasses and a long brown plait. She is wearing a tie-dyed tshirt that looks like the sky, and a set of dungaries with cartoon rainbows on them. She sits in a den of dark fabric, one sheet of which looks like the night sky. From all corners of the den, strands of wool loop across the space. To her right, a bright yellow sewing machine, wrapped with fairy lights, perches on a stool draped in a sheet of fabric decorated with big green leaves and pink flamingoes. In front of it, a box of similarly bold fabrics with botanical patterns spills over. In front of Anna is a tin. The lid of the tin is decorated with an image of hundreds of clothes buttons. The lid is askew, and inside you can see piles of skeins of multicoloured embroidery thread. Anna is looking up to her right, as though mid-thought, or speaking to someone. The space is lit with soft light.

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The Online Experience [screenshots]

Hand stitched white thread writing reads "All The Threads You Left Behind". This is the landing page of a website. At the bottom, a white clickable button reads "Enter"

A screenshot of a welcoming information page on the 'All The Threads' website. A sketchy hand-drawn chair sits beside a block of text, the font of which is made to look like Anna's handwriting. The text reads "Welcome All The Threads You Left Behind. This work was originally livestreamed from Bristol Old Vic on 5th – 8th October 2021 – what you are about to experience is a recorded version. This will be available until the end of November, 2021. About the work This is a live art piece about grief, created by Anna Rathbone. Previously an in-person 1:1 performance installation, this digital version has been commissioned by Bristol Old Vic Ferment and made possible by the Genesis Fund. It lasts 5-10 minutes and is best accessed from a computer, rather than a mobile device. Navigate through by clicking the buttons at the bottom of each page. If you can’t see the button to advance to the next page, you may need to scroll down."

A screenshot from the next page of the 'All the Threads website'. A header reads: "This work contains a silent video filmed in low light conditions. Would you like an Audio Description?" Two buttons give the options of "Yes, audio description please" and "No audio description, thanks"

A screenshot of the next page of the website. Some text reads: "The next page has a video feed and some words. Please choose how you would like to experience the words using the buttons below. If you choose to listen to the words, make sure your computer sound is turned up. Once you have finished watching or listening, press the ‘Leave’ button to exit." Below it, a header asks: "This piece uses words. How would you like to experience them?" Three buttons give the options: "read the words," "listen to the words," "read and listen to the words

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The Visitor’s Book

‘All The Threads You Left Behind’ is a mediation on grief and loss.

At the end of the journey through the online piece, Anna invited each viewer to leave a ‘trace’ – something they have been left by someone who has passed away.

These are the traces.

My uncle’s mirror
As we were about to leave my uncle’s house, almost devoid of anything of meaning a few weeks after he died, I noticed the mirror. That’s the thing about mirrors: you don’t really see them until there’s nothing for them to reflect. It was on the living room wall and was in dark brown, almost… Continue reading My uncle’s mirror
A small wooden spoon
The spoon was my Mother’s. It is much smaller than those usually used, a perfect size for her tiny hand. The bowl has only half remaining and is stained dark brown by the many soups and stews it has stirred. The handle is worn smooth by my Mother’s hand. I use it whenever I cook… Continue reading A small wooden spoon
A boardgame expansion
A received this from my friend when their spouse died by suicide. It has too many tricky many memories for her, but I will enjoy it, and remember the grace and generosity of the widow, and the hundreds of hours of gaming I had with both of them.
A box
On my 50th birthday my Mum gave me a small box with a ribbon on it and a card that read as follows- “This is a very special gift, That you can never see. The reason it’s so special is, It’s just for you from me. Whenever you are happy, Or even feeling blue, You… Continue reading A box
A ring with a stone found on beach during honeymoon
A special ring; not glittery or huge but with a special stone found on a beach as the honeymooners walked. A stone found and made into a simple ring that has been passed down the family for 3 generations. I am the present wearer of this token of love. It was passed to me when… Continue reading A ring with a stone found on beach during honeymoon
All of their possessions including their house
My mum had a hard life and therefore had a lot of trust issues and by the end of her life her mental state was that she had cut everyone out apart from me. Still to this day I feel very honoured that I was the only person named in her will and therefore I… Continue reading All of their possessions including their house
A picture
I never knew my biological father. I was adopted when I was 2. This year after reading my files I found that he died in 2007. All I have of him is a picture
A car
My car was my Aunty’s before she died 6 years ago. I was left with the car. I’ve always liked it, and it’s been helpful for work and things, but ultimately I’ve always thought “it’s just a car”. But then it was getting old, and we had to sell it, and it was really sad.… Continue reading A car
A unique piece of writing
It was in a pale brown folder of about twenty-five pages, typed usinga typewriter, with handwritten corrections. It was all about changes, transformations, metamorphoses which the person writing, David was his name, had tracked across texts by a poet he loved. And it showed the changes David had undergone, his diversity and otherness, his generosity,… Continue reading A unique piece of writing
Three Eeyores
My mum’s Little Eeyore, Big Eeyore and Giant Eeyore. They used to keep us company and sit with my mum and brother and watch tv with us. Despite being stuffed toys they were very expressive, and through them I could communicate things I otherwise struggled to say. Big Eeyore is very old now and a… Continue reading Three Eeyores
A photo keyring
I visited my friend XiXi’s home country of China in 2010, and together we took silly photos in a photo booth in Nanjing. She was murdered by her boyfriend in 2016, and I wore the photos to her funeral as a necklace. Only eight people attended because her family wanted to stay away from the… Continue reading A photo keyring
A cap
My Grandad’s blue Hollister cap. When Grandma bought it for him, she told Grandad how much I would love it. I now have that cap hanging on my wardrobe door. Every now and then I pick it up just to hold it. The inside still smells of him and in my mind, I’m hugging my… Continue reading A cap
A tarnished silver cameo necklace
It isn’t really a true cameo, but silver shaped like the side of a woman’s face and a swirl around the outside. The chain is very, very long and when I wear it the pendant sits halfway between my chest and my belly button, which is far lower than it probably ought to. But I… Continue reading A tarnished silver cameo necklace
a pottery plate my mother made, which I recently broke
I used to use it as my breakfast plate every day until last month I dropped it and the rim broke. I bought some ceramic glue on the internet to stick the small pieces back on but it was tricky and there are gaps where I didn’t fit the bits back right. I’m trying to… Continue reading a pottery plate my mother made, which I recently broke
Two coat hangers
They are bright pink, plush and hideous, with empowering slogans emblazoned across them: “You’re gorgeous!”. They are too short and thick to hang anything properly. But every time I consider getting rid of them, I remember that they were a gift from my late Grandpa, who was stubborn, rude, loud and brilliant. This makes me… Continue reading Two coat hangers
Writing in a notebook
My dad was a barrister. He stood up in court and, in his stuttering speech, prosecuted people who contravened Customs and Excise laws. In a random notebook (of which my mum refused to throw away any, including old diaries from the 1930s – unwritten in) was one page that was written on in my dad’s… Continue reading Writing in a notebook
Teeny tiny spoons
They’re really small, and all the colour has gone, but they are perfect. I keep them in the box they came in, with the note saying you wanted them to come to me.
a pair of white Birkenstocks
Given to me before he passed in return for ruining my trainers at Glastonbury. I wore them for 6 months in Asia and both have been superglued back together but then he passed away. I can’t seem to get rid of them.
A shiny silver vase.
It was a Christmas present from my best friend, and while it isn’t something I would have chosen for myself, it has had a home wherever I have lived since. My friend was one of the shiniest, friendliest people I have ever known, so while she is no longer with me, the vase is an… Continue reading A shiny silver vase.
My Grandma’s Dressing Table
When I was little, I would go and stay with my Grandma. She would give me and my sister her bedroom to sleep in as she only had a one bedroom flat and she would sleep on the sofa. her dressing table was pride of place in the room and in it’s kidney shape beauty… Continue reading My Grandma’s Dressing Table
Weave and Mend – a folktale from Romany tradition
Because this story always reminds me of you. How you would listen, and by listening make things better. There was no magic iwand. Just the everyday ordinary magic of being a friend
two chairs
the best pieces of furniture in my house are the armchairs. one is small and pink and deceptively comfortable; the other is massive and brown and hideous but promises plush faux-velvet squidginess from across any room. (it is also, secretly, a recliner.) each one comes from a grandfather, looted stubbornly from the ‘chuck’ pile when… Continue reading two chairs
dressing gown
As my Mum’s physical and mental health worsened she began to live in her dressing gown. It was bad enough that she’d had it forever (knitted by her grandmother, it was purple with random ‘animals’ on it) but now she was wearing it every time we saw her. She literally lived in it and we… Continue reading dressing gown

Credits

Created by Anna Rathbone — Produced and website designed by Elinor Lower — Livestream filmed by Matthew Gilpin — with thanks to Jordan Linton, Cassandra Wye and Rich Howard.