✨️Fibre ✨️ Bruja✨️
The Jacquard Loom Device
~ an idea that led to the computer age -
The morning news sent me a thread that took me to a rabbit hole ending in a deep well of philosophy & economics.
First - the article 👇 (take 5 minutes to really read this story of technology loss & salvation.)
When a rare weaving device was destined for the skip, a collective of artists, teachers and students united to rescue it. They bemoan how un
There's a lot of threads to untangle here so let's begin with the impact of this device on our collective world history.
Although often called a Jacquard loom it is really a separate piece - the Jacquard Loom Device - attached to a loom that separates this weaving machine from others. It is this device, with its array of connected punch cards, that made complex patterns from binary code.
After all - the warp threads (the shead) are either UP or DOWN in the process of weaving. Up (1) or down (0) - the two choice system is the basic of Binary code.
These looms were once ubiquitous. Today - as with many older tools of hand crafting - they are rare. Their decline is - of course - economic based. It is understandable that the loom & device is no longer feasible as a method of production - - - However, as a method of rendering Art and as historical reference of the computer age - why would a College or University dedicated to the association of Art & Science not find a place for these machines?
This is, quite literally, the technological link between the old & the new world. Discarding the few remaining specimens (because they are truly rare) is akin to having an ancient pyramid dismantled to put in an industrial park. The structure, mechanics, and process of these machines still have lessons to teach and art to make.