Urchin Pouffe by Christien Meindertsma

You know, I really do love the feel of fabric, especially of anything made of wool. Last year I hunted for wool blankets at every flea market in the area, and I now have lots and lots in my atelier, sitting there until I get the nerve to cut them up and use them for some art work.

I bet it is going to be difficult to write about  the feel of fabrics though,  the feel of woolly things and all things tactile. Take the picture above –  the Urchin Pouf made by  Dutch Design icon Christien Meindertsma. I checked it out at Strand West in Utrecht, because I saw it in a magazine and just could not rest till I had had my hands on it. The Strand West people have a lovely website, but it just isn’t the same!  Imagine what it would be like if we could just add feel to a website, so you could stroke the screen and feel  the soft springyness of the wool and the kinks and twists of the knit …..  I think we hands-on people have been much neglected by the computer industry.

This by the way also tells you why I get into trouble with the artworld sometimes.  I  have always had this notion that I haven’t  really seen a work of art unless I have  touched it – and touching  works of art in a gallery or a museum is a sure way to get into trouble. My own works of art I try to make so seductive that people just have to touch them, which makes for some interesting experiments. But more about this in a later blog ….