Unwritten: The Implicit Luxury
51
was hung, symbolising the sun that comes through it and the centre of the world.
They also have a square piece of felt which works as the main door, signifying home
and safety.
The importance of felt resides not just in its simplicity and the high level of nature
embodied in it, but also in its anatomical associations. Felts has a natural touch, it
can be re-shaped, and has been used for shoes and hats. It is a material that has
always been very close to the human body, not just to protect it but to exchange deep
emotional qualities; humans added friction and heat to the fibre in order to create
the felt in the first place, and, in return, the felt protected human bodies and offered
them a sense of belonging and comfort.
One artist who has worked with felt is Joseph Beuys who tired of art forms that
were disconnected from everyday life and decided to make art using so-called poor
materials from everyday life. Using a material that can be found in almost any household was a way for Beuys to talk to everyone, and thus to develop his own universal
language. For Beuys, art needed to engage with “elementary forgotten knowledge”
[13]. He wanted to show this basic but irreplaceable elemental material which has
protected humans throughout history and so bring back those forgotten connections
to simple and common things. He also believed that raw materials provide matter for
thought [13]. According to Borer, when asked “who is qualified to create?” Beuys
would answer: “those who know the language of the world, that is to say, you and
I…” (1996). This is the hidden treasure, improving our knowledge of “sensual languages”, those with no need for words, the most universal. When the ineffable is
attained, we become challenged, but we need to learn to explore that challenge via
emotions instead of our normal, but in this case futile, method of exploring only in
words.
5 Why Non-verbal Textile Languages?
These languages were able to engage hands, body, and mind together. Modern
observers require a new way of expression and of imprinting their own stamp of
their perception of the world. According to the Aristotelian model, “memory is of
the past, perception is of the present and conception is of the future” [1, pp.47–48].
As Quilter and Urton said in their book Narrative Threads, when analysing the Khipu
system and considering the knowledge of ancestral cultures in the past, we can analyse and give sense to the present, and in so doing be better able to project towards
the future. Bringing this knowledge back and adapting it to present needs is how we
can smooth the way to the future. Being aware of the knowledge that our ancestors
acquired, and using it in a more developed way, adapted to today’s society, is a form
of evolution. It is always good to be innovative, but if we do so considering what
has gone before, the achievement of improvements is going to be greater, and more
useful for us. Offering new spaces of reflection for observers in the search for active
roles are a way of facing the future.
51
was hung, symbolising the sun that comes through it and the centre of the world.
They also have a square piece of felt which works as the main door, signifying home
and safety.
The importance of felt resides not just in its simplicity and the high level of nature
embodied in it, but also in its anatomical associations. Felts has a natural touch, it
can be re-shaped, and has been used for shoes and hats. It is a material that has
always been very close to the human body, not just to protect it but to exchange deep
emotional qualities; humans added friction and heat to the fibre in order to create
the felt in the first place, and, in return, the felt protected human bodies and offered
them a sense of belonging and comfort.
One artist who has worked with felt is Joseph Beuys who tired of art forms that
were disconnected from everyday life and decided to make art using so-called poor
materials from everyday life. Using a material that can be found in almost any household was a way for Beuys to talk to everyone, and thus to develop his own universal
language. For Beuys, art needed to engage with “elementary forgotten knowledge”
[13]. He wanted to show this basic but irreplaceable elemental material which has
protected humans throughout history and so bring back those forgotten connections
to simple and common things. He also believed that raw materials provide matter for
thought [13]. According to Borer, when asked “who is qualified to create?” Beuys
would answer: “those who know the language of the world, that is to say, you and
I…” (1996). This is the hidden treasure, improving our knowledge of “sensual languages”, those with no need for words, the most universal. When the ineffable is
attained, we become challenged, but we need to learn to explore that challenge via
emotions instead of our normal, but in this case futile, method of exploring only in
words.
5 Why Non-verbal Textile Languages?
These languages were able to engage hands, body, and mind together. Modern
observers require a new way of expression and of imprinting their own stamp of
their perception of the world. According to the Aristotelian model, “memory is of
the past, perception is of the present and conception is of the future” [1, pp.47–48].
As Quilter and Urton said in their book Narrative Threads, when analysing the Khipu
system and considering the knowledge of ancestral cultures in the past, we can analyse and give sense to the present, and in so doing be better able to project towards
the future. Bringing this knowledge back and adapting it to present needs is how we
can smooth the way to the future. Being aware of the knowledge that our ancestors
acquired, and using it in a more developed way, adapted to today’s society, is a form
of evolution. It is always good to be innovative, but if we do so considering what
has gone before, the achievement of improvements is going to be greater, and more
useful for us. Offering new spaces of reflection for observers in the search for active
roles are a way of facing the future.