the results are in
And my oh my, have things been exciting here at The Gusset.
With votes flowing steadily, I’ve not been able to tear myself from the drama.1
Though some things seemed clear from the start (Tapestry, for instance, surged to the front immediately and held on to a solid lead all week), others shifted daily—even down to the wire in the last hour.
Over in the materials race, Some Combination and Random Things ran neck and neck (leaving dear Cellulose in the dust), while in vague direction, Functional and Non-Binary tossed a couple of percentage points back and forth between them almost to the end—with Non-Functional never too far behind.
And who knew that Stitching and Backstrap would almost tie for second place in technique?
Watching with bated breath, each iteration, unexpected combination and possible outcome generated fresh and surprising ideas.
But now the tally is official: for the next undefined while2 I’ll be focusing on making functional tapestry(ies) with random things I find.
I say “will be”, but in point of fact I was already knee deep well before the polls closed.
Knee deep at any rate, in the rich grey areas of the language I inadvertently chose.
What, for instance, did I really mean by find?
Was I implying that I could only use materials I might stumble upon outside/in the wild like my beloved milkweed, or will it be okay to find things wherever I happen to be, inside or out? And what about materials that find me?
This Sally Fox natural brown cotton, for instance, spun in the distant past and forgotten, jumped out of a bag while I was busily rummaging for something else, and seemed to be just the thing for exploring these questions.3
Is it?
Well, the dictionary mentions “seeking out and providing,” so why not? Indeed by that definition, I could have been deliberately foraging for tapestry weft in the first place.
Etymologically, too, the Old English findan4 means come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study, which beautifully supports this unlooked for inclination of mine to find out about more about find.
Not that I need permission from dictionaries to use these materials—but in probing the parameters of possibility, both in my head and in the world, I want, just now, to remain as flexible as possible as prospects and projects present themselves.
For all I know I might even find, or summon, myself.
After all, I’ve already inadvertently conjured not just one but two younger versions—a disapproving pair who showed up in my diary determined to express their disdain for this entire project—
—a pair who, by their very vocal disapproval, are helping me to rejoice in the newly emerging model (a model that they both, all unknowing, helped to create by taking their own far riskier paths).
Indeed the very visibility of their disapproval highlights my delight so that rather than being swayed by their dismay, I’m actively enjoying the absurdity of giving up control in the creation of limitations5 —while also getting to choose how I use and respond to them.6
So now, with many questions still to be asked—not least what thing actually means, and how the parameters of functional might express themselves—I can take even more delight in whatever functional weft-faced, random material solutions I get to try.
And with the Germanic origin of the word find coming “from root *pent- "to tread, go" (source also of Old High German fendeo "pedestrian;" I’m off and away to see what more I can find out.7
How about you?
Thoughts? Put them in the comments. Please use the button below rather than by hitting reply however, for if you choose the latter I won’t see your lovely words.
And if you know anyone who might want to meander around designing things with us, click the button below and send it to them!
Thank you thank you all for voting. It was, and is, a blast.
My apologies to free subscribers for implying that you would be able to see the results even when you couldn’t vote on this one. Turns out I was wrong. Not, I’m sure, that it was as thrilling for anyone else as it was for me, but still….
That said, anyone, paid or free, want to try your hand at this functional tapestry from random things lark? No pressure at all at all, but if it sounds enticing, it could be fun to see where it takes us all.
How long will this continue? Only one way to find out.
I bought this fiber from Sally Fox at my very first Spin Off Autumn Retreat in 1989, and did the spinning during a period in the early 1990s when I was obsessed with twisting cotton on super lightweight supported spindles. It was was fun while it lasted even if it didn’t take in the long term—though I’m happy to have a few skeins to mess with decades later. And more fiber to spin. Some time.
They, poor dears, though creatively free in many ways, also operated under myriad limitations: full time work, motherhood, wilderness life, bossy (now ex-)spouses, expectations, etc, and are rightly horrified by the idea of deliberately adding still more restrictions—much less seeking outside input (which came at them already, asked for or not). And just because I believe those very limitations helped them to be as creative as they were, there is no reason to think they should approve of me inviting in more.
One of my questions last week was about future polls—particularly how many I might need to narrow things down further—and the answer for the moment is apparently none, for it seems I need to do some parameter exploration first. That said, I’m super curious as to how today’s results might have been different had the voting been open to all 6,000+ subscribers—and might yet need to find out…
While on the subject of paths I can’t not mention Anna Brones’ fabulous free Create and Engage workshops where she (and the participants) explore the role of art in creating community. I went to last month’s, The Power of Zines, and we got to draw comics!!! This month’s is called Mapping Belonging: Art & Connection with Christine Wong Yap & José González (talk about finding yourself on the path) and will take place via zoom on on Wednesday June 12, 5:00-6:30pm Pacific. You can find out more and join for free on the linked page.
I find thee makes me happy.
A function I prize most dearly.
With Beryl keeping a level eye
Under that beautiful, beautiful sky,
Let the weaving begin!
The Gusset is so darn fun! 🤗
"Those creatures will be exhausted!" < Beryl always makes me laugh! This sounds like a delightful project. I haven't figured out the combo of "functional" and "tapestry" as yet, but the found part I explored last summer. I was playing with making cordage and then tried to use it in a tapestry that depicted the flower the cordage was from. Some were more successful than others, but, in a pinch, yucca cordage would make tapestry warp during an economic apocalypse. Put that in the functional column. Hmmm... functional and tapestry don't have to link as adjective and noun, do they?