New goods on the
counter. And I will add other things soon.
Encouraged by my short success at Etsy, my husband got into the sashiko thing for a while. He found this interesting
website. It is a gallery in Brooklyn that exhibits and sells old Japanese textiles dyed and decorated in one of their traditional techniques (pictures bellow). There is lot of sashiko going on there. Apparently, the owners hunt for the stuff straight in Japan. The most worn out, the most mended and sewn over with patches, the better. I understand their passion. Basically, the more it looks like the Japanese would throw it away, the more it is likely to appear in their gallery. It is interesting how we think of these things as being very artsy whereas their owners (and creators) want to get rid off them.
Finally, I have also learned what sashiko actually is. They would use it on fishermen clothes, they were made of two layers, stitches would hold it together and also strengthen the fabric. It is almost unbelievable that they would go into so much trouble sewing it. And they were making art pieces without knowing it. How many people on Etsy know that what they create is NOT art?
New goods on the counter. And I will add other things soon.
Encouraged by my short success at Etsy, my husband got into the sashiko thing for a while. He found this interesting website. It is a gallery in Brooklyn that exhibits and sells old Japanese textiles dyed and decorated in one of their traditional techniques (pictures bellow). There is lot of sashiko going on there. Apparently, the owners hunt for the stuff straight in Japan. The most worn out, the most mended and sewn over with patches, the better. I understand their passion. Basically, the more it looks like the Japanese would throw it away, the more it is likely to appear in their gallery. It is interesting how we think of these things as being very artsy whereas their owners (and creators) want to get rid off them.
Finally, I have also learned what sashiko actually is. They would use it on fishermen clothes, they were made of two layers, stitches would hold it together and also strengthen the fabric. It is almost unbelievable that they would go into so much trouble sewing it. And they were making art pieces without knowing it. How many people on Etsy know that what they create is NOT art?
7 comments:
Nádhera a trefná poznámka na konec, platí nejen pro Etsy!
The definition of what Art is very cultural. Just think of African Sculpture: in the Western world it went from underestimated junk objects made by tribal people to art that revolutionized European style and aesthetics (Modigliani, Picasso etc). Africans were not making art per se: their sculptures always had a practical purpose, just like Japanese fishermen clothing, just like cave people paintings back in the Stone Age. Making something, and making it aesthetically pleasing is the artistic train human beings have always shared throughout their history, but making art per se is only of wealth(ier) societies. Now, I'm an anthropologist and no art historian as you know, and so I could be TOTALLY wrong here!
Btw, you're doing very nice sashiko work, and should be proud of your success. I'm looking forward to seeing what next you've been cooking! Have a great weekend Magda!
OF course, it is true. It is one of the reasons why their art is not a kitsch. Which my rather awkwardly expressed phrase at the end wants to point at (I was said it didn't make sense). So, paradoxically, kitsch is also a cultural invention.
I love Sashiko. Mind you I am so into textile items created by women long time ago because I think it so much better represents what went on in daily life in a community or society than just wars - which is what history books seem to focus on...how can you tell they were written by men. I am so much more interested in what kind of clothing women sewed or knitted and where they sourced out their fibers to make their materials and how everything was put together.
Hmm, it would be nice to get into this more deeply. Regarding the wars as the main track of the history, I went into the trouble and read the Own Biography of Charles the IV. To my surprise, other then three or four interesting episodes that I had already known because they were quoted everywhere and all the time, there was nothing else but which battles he underwent and which towns he conquered. Basically a list of his success. It somewhat devalued this most appraised man of the Czech history in my eyes.
Oh good work here, and thanks for the Japanese textiles-link!
what beautiful textiles! and such an interesting post (and comments.)
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