Carpets have soul because someone, somewhere, imbued a carpet with it by trading away a portion of their time in existence. The most aesthetically and technically laudable handknotted carpets have soul, simply because they – like wisdom – take time to develop.
But handweaving, including the handknotting of rugs and carpets is not the predominant means civilization employs weaving to the benefit of humanity; handwërk such as this has, since at least the first industrial revolution, been largely supplanted by mechanized and automated means of weaving.
I love a trade show, trade fair in International English. When done well, with a fortuitous confluence of circumstance and a sufficient quorum of buyers and sellers and traders and makers, the excitement of a trade show renews a weary soul.
Populations do not need to be empowered, they need free exercise of the agency of the individual, and a marketplace which does not intentionally hold back those from a prosperity we ourselves seek.
In the trade of handknotted, no check that, in the trade of all manner of rugs and carpets, the advertising and marketing, the salesmanship, the press which self-interests itself, and yes of course my own critique of rugs and carpets must not only welcome honesty, but must also champion it above what is often not-so-politely called bullshit.
Today we are talking about the slow and anachronistic manner in which handknotted rugs and carpets are crafted; slowmaking as the firm Jan Kath has in the past used in their corporate propaganda – advertising if you’d rather.
Welcome to the first instalment of a new feature I call ‘Monologue.’ Short, concise, micro-pod-casts in which I, not surprisingly, share my opinions and thoughts about myriad topics as they relate to and intersect with the trade of handknotted and handmade rugs and carpets. It’s a – wait for it – monologue in its simplest, albeit truncated, form.
Whether or (k)not God, god, or gods exist is no concern today as we contemplate the unknowns beyond our grasp and understanding. This is what the idiom ‘God is in the details,’ means to me. It conveys an appreciation for all manner of things we as humans marvel at while remaining simultaneously naïve…
To embrace modern design and all which it entails is to place oneself at the uneasy crux betwixt the past and the future; only by first examining thoroughly what has been done before prior to folding in the techniques, materials, and technology of today can the modernist craft something in tune with the requirements of this era.
