As human being part of a certain culture, society and upbringing, how important is textile to our life?
It is very interesting to look at textile in the context of human activities; textiles are quite central to our lives.
The most straight forward example is the one of our birth; in probably every culture, the new born baby is wrapped in a piece of cloth. It represents security, warmth, protection.
Textiles and clothes are very fragile as it cannot survive the damage of time as much as wood or bronze can, therefore there is not many dated pieces for our records.
With the pieces that survived, because of the way they were looked after and conserved, whole new debates take place: Mass Production VS Craft
How is Textiles perceived?
We came out with the idea that it depends on the function it has been created for.
In the Middle Ages, embroidery was prolific in England , there was no authorship, no one was owning the respect for making embroidered garments; even though it was made using one's hands and skills, it was made in a more mass production way.
In 19Th century, William Morris, an architect, furniture, textile artist as well as a writer, was a major name in the Art and Craft movement, which reformed the way decorative art and craft were conceived and made. Textile was no longer exclusively associated with mass production but was also associated with craft.
The context influences a lot the perception of textiles.
The time and the place are very important factors in the identification process of textiles.
There are many examples of textiles pieces or objects that that could influence either point of view.
One that I particularly liked is the Arbadil Carpet, a famous Persian carpet made in the mid 16Th century. It was a request from the Shah Tahmasp I for a mosque. The carpet is considered s one of the biggest carpet ever woven (10.51m x 5.34m); the design is extremely meticulous and beautifully done.
The carpet is exposed at the Islamic Art section at the V&A; it is lit every half an hour for ten minutes, so it prevents it from losing his colour.
I think it is a magnificent piece of textile and I admire the exceptionally precise work, the patience and the time put into it.
And even if it might be senseless after arguing about craft and mass production the feeling I had in front of the Arbadil carpet was: do I really care if any of those beautifully made textile pieces are craft or mass production? No, I just would like to enjoy what I have in front of my eyes .
Another interesting discussion about textiles is its function.
I would say that the purpose of textile defines its function.
Consequently, there can be many functions/ aspects to it.
The first and most evident one is to have something to put on ourselves, we need clothes. As mentioned in the introduction, our very first contact with fabric is at our birth. Our clothes more than a protection, can also be a way to express ourselves it has become a huge business sometimes very far from it first function, protection.
The second aspect is textiles as objects.
Here is a short list:
-Tee Pees made out of animal skin
-Parachute or hot air balloon, a piece of cloth that can break the fall.
-The samurai armours, different colours represent the ranks in the hierarchy
-BMW mock-up car made out of coated Lycra, it saves from waste Seat and belts of any car, made out of resistant fabrics
And many more, textiles are everywhere!
The third aspect is Fine Art. So many artists have used textiles in their work.
Here are some of them:
-Louise Bourgeois, knitted bodies, embracing bodies
-Christo Runningfence, a fence 5.5 meters high and 39.4 kilometres long made out of heavy woven white nylon fabric
-Tracey Emins, embroided blankets
-Michael Raedecker line-up, using stitches and thread in his composition.
