Wednesday, January 6, 2016

"Form Follows Function" and Creative Spinning



"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law."

-Louis Sullivan, Architect, 1896, The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered

I first encountered this quote in my History of Architecture class at Williams College.  Though a physics major, my art and architecture history courses had a profound affect on me.  Fast forward to spinning 30 years later: one day this quote popped back into my brain.

The biggest impediment to creativity is the impression that you must "do something" with your creation.  This attitude reflects the unfair dismissal of fiber and yarn as art.  To be sure, Fiber Art is a bona fide major in prestigious art colleges, but to the general population, it is still...just...yarn.

Why should this be?  Other basic materials are widely accepted as art: marble can be a both a countertop and a sculpture; glass a pane and a lampwork bead or a Tiffany window.  Yet a spinner creates a textured, colorful, original yarn and the first question is, "But what can you DO with it?"  Just as a beautiful handblown glass bead can be part of a bracelet, almost any "art yarn", or as I prefer, "creative spinning", can be incorporated into a wearable piece.  But like that glass bead, it also stands on its own as art.  It can be beautifully displayed on a wall, in a bowl, around a neck.  It can be admired for its beauty, studied for its clever technique.

Now back to Louis Sullivan and his quote. "Form (ever) follows function" seems to mean that the "construct" of something will be, by definition, the embodiment of its function.  Before referring to the ideal architecture of a tall office building, Sullivan writes, "the heart is ever gladdened by the beauty, the exquisite spontaneity, with which life seeks and takes on its forms in an accord perfectly responsive to its needs. It seems ever as though the life and the form were absolutely one and inseparable, so adequate is the sense of fulfillment." 


Though written in late 19th century prose, Sullivan's ideas on form and function resonate today with regard to creative spinning.  I used to say of my spinning, "the yarn will find the project", and I would wait until the right pattern came along.  This could embody the idea of "form follows function" in that the lofty yarn fits the shawl pattern, the tight plied yarn fits the sock pattern, the big chunky yarn will function in the hat pattern.  However as my creative spinning, knowledge of technique, and artistic exploration have grown I now interpret it quite differently; that the yarn is indeed the final "project", that its function is to be art and beauty.  And thus is its form.

13 comments:

  1. I, too, find that the general public can be all too dismissive of things that are actually very complex. Keep pushing your viewpoint to the forefront and people will eventually see it as you do. I never heard of "art yarn" until I heard the term from you. But that should not be. It is so obviously art.

    And so, yes, just because something is useful doesn't mean it isn't also art. A question I have for you, though, is how does the concept of craft fit into this conversation?

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    1. What is art? What is craft? A huge discussion which we'll have to have in person :)

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    2. Well put ;) and to put a punctuation mark,(so to speak) to your words, I have a skein of yarn that I purchased because I loved the colors, I have (at this time) no intention of ever knitting anything with it, I have it displayed in a basket, because it makes me feel good to look at it. ;)

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  2. The only thing worse than hearing "what do you do with it" is hearing it from a fellow "straight" spinner. Thank you for the perspective and ammo for my retort pistol :) I am what I am and my yarn is what it is.

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  3. I think the question, "What will you do with it", at least from my perspective is to say don't just twist it into a skein and let it lie. "Do something with it!" is probably more to the point. To admire it, use it for inspiration, perhaps even hang it on my favorite wooden carved Canada Goose's neck on the mantle on my fireplace. But don't just put it away and forget about it. It's too beautiful and a reflection of who you are. That's what I mean when I ask the question, "What will you do with it?".

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    1. So true... what will you MAKE with it is the annoying question I suppose... as it's ALREADY made! Thanks Sue :)

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  4. Perfectly articulated! And you have made me realize why I am so uncomfortable with my stashed art yarns! They do not belong with all the other yarns (and there is much yarn...heh, heh); they need to be UNSTASHED. :) I hate dust, though, and am allergic to it, so I'm conjuring up in my head some kind of large, wall-mounted shadow boxes made out of...windows? Hm. I'm also imagining wall hooks, though, and love the idea of draping them on figures. How do you keep your displayed yarns "dusted?" I've thought of blowing them with a hairdryer set on low and cool. What do you do? Just shake them out?
    And THANK YOU for finally and utterly destroying any vestiges I had of the idea that something must be MADE with them or that they NEEDED to be applied to some kind of garment. There was still a tiny bit of that niggling around in the back of my head.

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    1. Oh Donna, I love your comments! I do shake and blow them off to keep the dust off, and of course they can always be soaked in cool water and hung to dry! Let me know how you decide to display YOUR beauties!

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    2. Oh, I know a woman that displayed her knitted sweaters in an antique glass fronted "lawyers book case", a wonderful idea to display, and keep dust free. ;)

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  5. Dear Laura, your beautiful yarns do a lot to illustrate this insight. Things of beauty can stand on their own, and still sometimes they want to be something usable. Lovely to step back and see it organically grow, to let it take the course it wants, from fleece and locks to whatever, always faithful to its source, Nature.
    it is funny, i come from the 'opposite' range of the spectrum. I made things as an artist, and was relieved to find a useful channel for my creativity in spinning. and does that channel flow!
    Thank you for explaining that process.
    following from the netherlands, most obliged, wilma

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    1. Thank you for the comment Wilma- I love the fiber arts because people from all different origins converge- artists, knitters, farmers! Thank you for following.

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