"If we are to receive a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."
From broader pictures of social fabrcis like those described in The Tapestry of Culture to Weaving a Future, anthropologists have also considered the local meanings of the literal act of weaving itself, such as in Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands: Dreaming Patterns and Weaving Memories, and A Woven Book of Knowledge: Textile Iconography of Cuzco, Peru. Are you not inspired by such titles?
Earlier this week, I read a comment over at Apartment Therapy by DianneS., in which she described homemaking as an act of rebellion against "any host of imposed constraints," such as families being scattered over the globe, or the social pressure against stay-at-home mothers. I think there is something to say about this: and it is connected with textiles and weaving, because such activities are central to the home; it is how the home is formed (look inside a cozy home, aren't there usually throws, or fascinatingly embroidered pillows; what about cute little aprons or crocheted tea cozies? Of course, this is antithetical to the ultra minimalist, which is a social commentary of its own.)
Since a post I wrote last week, I have been thinking a lot of what it means to be a woman. Just yesterday, I was listening to some a generation older than myself who were saying they felt forced to be aggressive in the work place, even when there was no real threat. I must disagree, and I call on the concept of rebellion proposed by DianneS.; as a woman, I wish to reclaim my gentle and creative characteristics. To create and nurture means to help things grow. Now that sounds like a fruitful life.
As an image of this for today's Much Love Monday, here is a photo of some beautiful fabric my friend bought that she took to the tailor to have a cropped kimono-style jacket made. Below, is a gif of a web address (a QR, it is that of the WSJ Arts and Culture section) that I was inspired to include thanks to this project, that is asking artists to make textiles of QR codes, because Sally Fort saw that those codes resembled textiles. Textiles are a great metaphor for the world around us, because, at a most basic level, we wear them every day, and most of what we wear is now produced somewhere else, by other people.
Elements: doily, button and embroidery: minitoko;
QD code: BeQRious.
No comments:
Post a Comment