30 April 2015

The work of design can be fast and eventful, or slow and deliberate. Carpets belong by nature to the second category, as they traditionally emerge out of a narration that unwinds in forms and colors through the weaving of the yarn. The Austrian designers Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxlerhave a distinct vocation for design punctuated by natural rhythms: their early works investigated the possibility of making products with machines that would stop working when the sun went down. In the Day by Day rug for Nodus they have combined their passion for narrative design with the reflection on a more human rate of production. In fact each working day of the weaver is recorded in the elements that make up this polygonal rug: the sequence of small cellular structures reflects the passing of the hours devoted to its weaving, creating a sort of time and work chart. In contrast to the anonymity of the standardized series, each rug is accompanied by a sort of identity card that gives the name, age and gender of the worker in Nepal who made it, as well as the dates on which the rug itself was started and finished. Thus the series is in fact a collection of one-off pieces, similar in model and module, but absolutely original in the end result. The act of knotting is visible in the individual fibers and echoed in the patterns and colors, which evoke constancy and harmony. It’s like a mantra of which we can imagine the rhythm: each rug sings a tune that is not directly perceptible, and yet alludes to the humanity of making things, like a cadenced and living beat.