Framed by Textiles

Abstract

According to the critic Tom Lubbock, ‘Cloth is the universal free element. It doesn't have to explain itself. It performs’ (Lubbock, 2002). Cloth drapes and folds, becoming a membrane separating what is outside from what is inside. In this chapter, I draw on the writings of de Certeau, Rendell, Tschumi, etc. to develop ideas concerning the ways in which the use and understanding of textiles may move our perceptions of the boundaries of space, and the location of place. I argue that cloth may contain the identity of place, and that lace and lace net-works provide a starting point for the exploration of fluid space as described by Isozaki, Ishigami, etc. ¹ I also discuss those structures/mise-en-scène which frame our awareness and interpretation of place and space. Examples of work drawn from art, cinema and architecture are used to illuminate those ideas which question the materiality and purpose of form and enclosure.

Citation

Millar, L. (2022), "Framed by Textiles", Boonstra, B., Cutler-Broyles, T. and Rozzoni, S. (Ed.) Moving Spaces and Places (Emerald Interdisciplinary Connexions), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-226-320221007