2016
warp & woof
handmade paper tapestry 2m x 6m
handcraft | tapestry | archive
photography is a relatively young medium but through its short history it has been through many transformations. think of the fact that in the beginning of its existence a person probably only had a few photos taken of himself while now almost everything and everyone can be found represented in images. so it is fair to say that the position, the function and perception of images has changed all together. being an artist whose initial practice primarily was centered around photography, i am dissecting the medium from different perspectives. warp and woof is a reflection upon the changing function of printed press imagery. i obtained an archive of images used in the series of books called 'het aanzien van...' published yearly in the netherlands from the 1930's until 2005. this collection gave an overview of the important events of the past represented in images. original pages from the books became a material to weave a large, 2 x 6 metre, carpet.
generally carpet-making and weaving have two-fold meanings. on one hand it is used as a carrier of narratives and history at all times, while on the other, carpet has a decorative function. in the same way i see the press photographs today. the books become archetypes and images gain a decorative function. they are so recognizable that even a fragment can give an idea of what we are looking at. but is it enough to deal with information flows that are stronger than ever? warp and woof visualizes contemporary vision: fragmented, incomplete, pixelated but very appealing and superficially beautiful.
