#...a jacquard loom and a room for it to go in

[venusxxlangdon]

sleep, sugar

pairing: outpost!Michael x fem!reader

words: 4.1k

warnings: smut, Daddy kink, oral (female receiving), cum eating  

summary: based on this ask “Y/N keeps tossing and turning cause she can’t sleep and Michael wakes up every time she does so the last time she wakes him up he just goes down on her. But..he’s so tired so he rests his head on her thigh while lazily eating her out, he’s just licking at her so slowly for like 20 minutes but not in a teasing manner, just trying to relax her so she goes to sleep.”

gif: @spellman

The moonlight spills its silver glow into the big bedroom of a proud mansion, a defuse glow splashing onto the wooden floors and spreading towards a king size bed right in the center of the room. It caresses the nightstand with a chunky lamp on it, and then reaches its moony paws to the two bodies lying under the covers of the thick blankets; the quiet puffs of their even breath are the only sounds disturbing the peaceful silence of the night. The mane of strawberry blonde locks of the man who’s sleeping soundly on the satin sheets resembles liquid gold contrasting with the navy blue pillowcase, his full lips slightly parted, long lashes, casting shadows on his protruding cheekbones,  flatter every time he sees something exciting in his dream. He’s on his stomach, the moon caresses his broad back, illuminating strong muscles and every curve that looks like as if it was carved out of the finest marble. It seems like nothing can ruin the magical moment of pure bliss and calmness, but then there’s some fidgeting next to the blonde man.

It’s been only twenty minutes since you tried to fall asleep for the third time, yet again you find yourself wide awake, staring at the view of the midnight city looming from afar through the big windows framed with jacquard curtains. You close your eyes and sigh frustratingly, rubbing the tired lids with your fists. You shoot a quick glance at the clock and groan quietly.

3:24 a.m. God, why?

You look over your shoulder at Michael whose face looks so relaxed and peaceful in comparison to his awoken self — his usual frown between the straight brows has disappeared, his chiseled jaw unhinged, and he suddenly looks a lot younger than he actually is. Biting your bottom lip, you start contemplating the thought of waking him up and asking him to use his powers to help put you to sleep, but then you glance at him once again and the bitter feeling of guilt washes over you. No, you can’t ruin his sleep like that. You’ve already caused enough trouble disturbing his peace every time you turned and tossed on the bed.

Trying to be cautious, you turn over on your side to face Michael, but in the process, the burgundy blanket gets wrapped around your ankles too tightly, so the next moment you have to lift yourself from the bed, propping yourself on the elbows to adjust it. You can barely see anything in the dark, so you end up kicking the blanket off completely. It slips off of the bed and helplessly pools on the floor like a puddle of crimson blood. Fuck. You look down and decide that it’s useless to try picking it up.

Your lips are pressed in a tight line, as you hesitantly reach for Michael’s blanket. He won’t notice if you steal it, right? He seems far deep in his dreams. You get a grip of the corner of the fabric and slowly, inch by inch, pull it towards yourself, watching Langdon’s face for any signs of him being awake; you aren’t even breathing at this moment. Shifting a bit closer, you lean forward and slide your cold feet under Michael’s covers. You lie back on the pillow, but the mattress treacherously dips beneath your body, and Michael lets out a deep sigh.

“What is it again, kitten?” he asks, his voice low and deep, making your freeze to the spot with the blanket still clenched in your fists. Shit, you thought he was asleep. When Michael asks the question, he doesn’t even open his eyes, desperately not wanting to leave the sweet kingdom of Morpheus.

“Nothing,” you whisper, trying to position yourself on the bed as if you haven’t stolen his blanket a minute ago. “Go back to sleep, Michael.”

Langdon brings his large palms to his face and rubs his eyes, slowly opening them, the ocean blue coolness of his look peering at your annoyingly. He drops his left arm on the sheets and beckons you with his fingers.

“It’s the fourth time you wake up,” he sighs and shifts to the side, giving you some space on his pillow. “С’mere, you little thief,” he smirks at the fact that you’ve grabbed his blanket, leaving him almost uncovered.

An apologetic smile makes the corners of your mouth twitch, and as soon as you lean forward, a surprised yelp falls from your lips — Michael’s arms got wrapped around you securely and pulled you in for a tight hug, pressing you close to his chest, his long limbs enveloping you like tentacles. He nuzzles his face in the crook of your neck, the radiant warmth of his body immediately surrounds you like a protecting shield.

“Sleep, sugar,” he mumbles inches away from your ear, and his hot breath awakens your flesh with goosebumps; his long hair tickles your neck and bare shoulders. You brush the honey strands behind his ear and let your fingers wander over his cheeks and the sharp line of his jaw, caressing lovingly. Michael hums and tightens his embrace around you. You possessively throw your leg over his muscular thigh and press your PJ-clad crotch to his pelvis.

“I can’t,” you whisper, continuing running your fingers through his hair and playfully curling his silky locks around the bony knuckles. Your soft touches soothe him, making even more sleepy and pliant in your arms. It’s almost impossible for him to keep his eyes open, and you can tell it by the way he blinks lazily and tries to hold a yawn back.

“Have you tried counting sheep?” He asks, making long pauses between the words, and you scoff in response. “Or how many times I’ve made you cum,” you can feel a cheeky grin spread over his lips as he says that. Even when he’s on the verge of passing out he manages to make such remarks. You shake your head, but a quiet laugh still falls from your lips.

“Michael...,” you roll your eyes at him even though you know that he can’t see it.

“What?” He hums and presses his lips to your neck, leaving small kisses where he can reach, “I think it’s a great method.”

You tilt your head to the side, resting it on his shoulder, and let your hands travel over his back and arms, sliding up and down, praising him with featherlight touches. The feeling of being so close to him sends exciting sparks of pleasure down your spine, electrifying every cell of your body with the tension of million volts, the familiar warmth spreading in your lower abdomen. You curl your fingers against his shoulder and brush his porcelain skin that looks luminous in the moonlight and the reflection of the city lights with your knuckles.

In contrast to your energetic self, his breath becomes even and you can feel his grip around you loosen up a little bit, indicating that Michael has lost the battle and drifted back to sleep. You sigh and pensively drag your fingertips over the patch of skin between his neck and shoulder blades, drawing a little heart with your pads. And what are you supposed to do now?

You shift next to him, trying to adjust your body into a more comfortable position, but accidentally end up grinding your clothed hips against his crotch. The innocent movement makes your insides flatter in excitement, the tingling sensation in your tummy causes your hand involuntarily fly to your lower abdomen to cover the warm skin with your palm. You absentmindedly run your fingers along the waistband of your pants, toying with the silk ribbon tied in a bow.

“Daddy,” you whisper under your breath and bring your face closer to his, pressing your cheek into the soft pillow that smells like a mix of Langdon’s shampoo and cologne. Michael doesn’t respond, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Daddy, wake up,” you gently stroke his features and lean forward to peck his full lips.

“Mhmm,” he mumbles incoherently, his leg sliding between your thighs.

“Daddy, please, wake up,” you whine, sounding more demanding, and lightly pet his shoulder, “I need you.”

“Angel, can it wait till morning?” He groans, and you kiss the tip of his nose.

“Please, use your magic to help me fall asleep,” you beg him and lightly tug on his hair in an attempt to draw his attention, “I can’t do it on my own.”

Slowly, opening one eye and then another, Michael wakes up. He flips his hair over his shoulder and rests his chin on his hand, looking at you through the heavy lids.

“Someone’s being too active tonight,” he muses, sensing your energy buzzing within your body. You feel so excited and aroused despite the early hour that it makes Michael wonder what has influenced such a drastic shift in your spirit. He blinks the last traces of sleep away, and you watch him sit up on the bed with a sigh, the muscles on his back rolling as he stretches his arms. You watch him curiously get on his knees and crawl up in front of you, crumbling the white sheets.

“We don’t need my magic,” he rubs the bridge of his nose tiredly and then places both of his hands on his thighs, “let’s see if Daddy’s mouth can calm you down.”

Your heart skips a beat at Michael’s words and then starts racing, pressure pounding in your temples. He reaches out to the lamp on the nightstand and presses the button — a dim light immediately illuminates his soft features, tangling in the luscious waves of his curls. Langdon waves his index and middle fingers at you, urging to spread your legs for him. You obey eagerly and part your thighs.

“You really don’t have to do this,” you murmur, secretly wishing that Michael won’t listen to your protests, and he knows that. He brushes his hair back, letting the gold waves fall freely behind his shoulders.

Michael reaches his hand to the waistband of your pants but before he unties the bow he lets his fingers get under the flimsy top and graze the soft skin of your stomach that immediately flexes under his touch. He traces the unknown patterns over your flesh and uses his digits to hook under the hem of your top and bunch it up. You inhale sharply as his lips follow up, leaving open-mouthed kisses next to your bellybutton. He darts the tip of his tongue out and licks a wet stripe to the waistband, stopping right at the little bow to nip on your skin. You whimper and he immediately licks the bruised patch up.

“Gotta keep still for Daddy, okay love?” He mewls and gives you that look — the signature stare of two magnetic icebergs that can undress you in a matter of seconds. You nod and shift your head on the pillow, taking a more comfortable position. Michael smirks at your silent agreement which is clearly not enough for him. He needs to make sure that you have understood his order. He puts his warm veiny hands on your thighs, his thumb brushing over the fabric of your pants.

“Use your words, kitten.”

You cover his palms with your hands and lightly squeeze his fingers.

“Yes, Daddy, I’ll behave and let you use your tongue to make me feel good,” the devils in Michael’s eyes flicker in the dim light at your words, the dark lustful void envelops his blue irises. He leans forward, closing the distance between you two and crashes your lips in a passionate kiss. His tongue possessively pushes on your bottom lip, demanding access, and you obediently open your mouth, letting him in. You moan into the kiss at the feeling of Michael’s hand tangling in your hair and pulling at the roots to make you tilt your head for a better angle. His other hand leaves your thigh and unties the ribbons of the pants, loosening up the bow.

You are the first to break the kiss but only because you need to take a breath. Michael doesn’t let your shy away from him — he’s holding you firmly by your hair, his forehead pressed against yours. He slides his hand down to the valley of your breasts and cups the mound of flesh in his palm. He massages it firmly, yet gentle enough for you to moan his name in response.

“Such a good girl,” he praises, and you wrap your arms around his neck to lean in for another kiss. The synchronized movement of your lips speaks more than any words could ever — it confesses your love for Michael, an uncontrollable desire to be closer, to become one. There’s no space between you two, and you can feel his heartbeat drumming against your chest.

“Only for you, Daddy,” a quiet giggle escapes your lips.

His long eyelashes flatter when he looks down at your pants and licks his bottom lip.

“I want them off,” he pulls the waistband and lets it snap against your lower abdomen. Michael quickly helps you discard the unnecessary piece of clothing, leaving you in nothing but your PJ top. He neglectfully tosses the pants aside without paying attention to where they landed.

Before you could close your legs, he gets a strong grip of your knees and pushes them apart, forcing you to keep your thighs open for him. His eyes light up at the view of your pink, glistening pussy, and you nervously look away, being too intimidated. Michael never fails to make you feel vulnerable, especially when he looks at you as if he’s ready to devour you, drink you up. And he actually is. You bring your fingers to your mouth and bite the knuckles in order to suppress a reserved smile.

Langdon hooks his arms around your calves and pulls you in, making you slide a little lower on the pillow and lie completely flat before him. Satisfied with your position, he gets comfortable between your thighs and looks up at you.

“Relax, princess,” he places a soft kiss to the inner side of your thigh, “Daddy will take care of you.”

You sigh and sprawl your arms out, smoothing the sheets beneath you. You expect Michael to immediately get down to business and go straight to your clit, but instead, he surprises you with long, sloppy stripes that his tongue leaves along your puffy folds. He lazily drags his tongue down all the way to your puckering asshole and then traces the pink tip back up to your pubic bone, wrapping his lips mere inches away from your clit. Using his long fingers, he parts your pussy and does the same thing to your inner labia, collecting the wetness. You can’t help yourself when you hand flies to his head and you thread your fingers in his hair, long and honey-like. You slightly tug on the strands, knowing how much Michael likes it, and elicit a low growl from him that sends subtle vibration down your spine, making another wave of arousal flush through you and coat his tongue with salty fluids.

“Fuck,” you gasp and squeeze your eyes when he reaches your clit and gives it small kitten licks.

“Watch your tongue,” Michael hisses and turns his head to bite at the pulsing sinew near your navel in a warning.

You embarrassingly press your crimson face into the pillow and mutter, “I’m sorry, Daddy.” Langdon licks the abused spot soothingly, but it doesn’t prevent a purplish bruise to start blooming over the sensitive skin.

“It’s just...” you mumble as Michael’s tongue makes its way back to your clit. He presses the tip to a swollen bud firmly and agonizingly slowly slide it to your wet, pulsing center. “Oh my God, you feel so good.” He barely penetrates the tip into your hole, refusing to go all the way inside, much to your dismay.

“Daddy,” you sob brokenly, arching your back trying to bring your pussy closer to his parted lips that are already slick with your juices. You are so impatient, every cell of your body trembles in anticipation for more, more, more licks and kisses, but Michael has other plans. Every move of his lean, muscular body is slow as if he performs it in some sort of a trance. He wants to calm you down, help you relax, and the best tactic for it is to show you that he is not going to put up with your neediness. So he ignores your whimpers and quiet protests when he proceeds to lick you lazily.

You try to wriggle your hips under him, your fists crumpling the sheets and pulling harshly, so your knuckles bleed white.

“Y/N,” Michael’s threatening tone comes from between your legs, “You need to stop moving, otherwise I won’t let you cum. Do you really want to continue being a bad girl?”

You know that when he repeats himself twice it’s a final warning. You have no choice but obey, so with a shaky sigh, you try your best to relax. Michael’s overall dominating aura and sensual touches make your body go pliant. He watches you unhinge your jaw and close your eyes, admitting your defeat.

“Good...” you whisper, and it takes Langdon some effort not to crack up and smile at your pout, but he knows that you can do better than that. He rises up and towers over you. Michael puts his hands besides both sides of your face, holding the weight of his body above you, his hair flowing down like curtains.

“I’m sorry what was that?” He muses, tracing his finger over your bottom lip.

“I’ll be good,” you try to look away, but he uses the same hand to get a grip of your chin. He arches his brow at you, demanding a proper answer. “I’m sorry for being a brat, Daddy.”

He gives your lips a small peck and rubs the tip of his nose against yours.

“I wonder why you are suddenly acting up,” he says against your lips. “Hm?” Michael trails his lips towards your ear at traps your earlobe between his teeth. “Such a naughty girl for having woken Daddy up at 4 a.m. What happened, kitten? Did you dream about my tongue between your legs? Did the throbbing in your kitty keep you awake?” He cups your sex in his hand and presses the heel of his palm to your clit, drawing another moan from you.

“I’ll take it as a yes,” he smirks and slides back between your legs.

You try your best to keep your word and stay still. He eats you out with no steady pace, his tongue alternates slow, sensual licks with sudden hard thrusts into your core, and you never know what’s going to happen next. He is playing by his own rules.

“Please,” your voice breaks in a pathetic plea; you look down at Michael with glassy eyes, watching him lazily lap up your arousal, his hair spilled between your parted legs like liquid platinum. He places his hand on your tummy and slowly pushes on it, pinning you down to the mattress. This subtle move of dominance makes your breath heavy, and you feel your orgasm start building up deep inside of you. You want to scream at Michael for being such a tease, for keeping you on edge. At first, it seems like he is giving you enough — his tongue feels heavenly playing with your pussy — yet you want to flip you and him over and ride his face at the impossibly fast pace like you really need it.

“You are so beautiful, my love,” he drags every letter of the words, pretending that he  doesn’t notice your fucked out state; his fingers slide up and down your folds, smearing your arousal and then stopping by the hole, you keep pushing out on display for him, to swipe off some more of the creamy liquid. He rubs it between his fingers and smirks. “The prettiest little pussy, so warm and wet for me. You like it when daddy fucks you on his tongue, don’t you, kitten?”

“Nghhh,” your head thrashes from side to side. Every nerve ending of your body is on fire.

Edging is fun and games until it starts being exhausting. You drop your bent legs on the bed, spreading them out for Michael as wide as possible and take a deep breath. You can’t take it anymore, it feels like if Langdon doesn’t give you what you need, you will die. You extend your hand out and tiredly pet his head.

“Daddy,” you whisper, watching him circle your sensitive clit with his tongue, “Please, let me cum.” You clasp your hands in prayer, and Michael’s dick twitches at the sacred gesture. It’s like you admit that he’s your only God who blesses you with the carnal pleasure.

With a low, throaty groan, he inserts two fingers inside of you and wastes no time curling them upwards right where your most sensitive spot is located. He brushes against the spongy wall of your pussy and makes a beckoning motion inside of you, making you nearly choke on your saliva. He expertly scissors his digits and attaches his mouth to your clit. The sweet teasing kisses were now replaced with intense, circular motions of his tongue, the tip of it pressing right on your oversensitive clit. Your mouth falls agape, eyes flying open as the sparks of pleasure ripple through you. You feel so, so wet — the squelching sound that Michael’s fingers make as he pumps them in and out of you is vulgar and irresistibly obscene.

“Cum for me, angel,” he urges you, pushing his finger deeper into your quivering pussy. He can already feel your walls start clenching around his digits. “Show me what a good little slut you are for Daddy.”

And you snap at his words. The tight heat in your stomach that’s been coiling all this time finally unwinds and your body gets flooded with warmth and pure ecstasy. Your limbs go numb, as you clench around his fingers with force, milking them so nicely that Michael wishes it were his cock instead. Your cum drips down your thighs, making a mess all over Langdon's hand and the sweat-soaked sheets.

He doesn’t pull his wet fingers out until you wince at the overstimulation and shift your hips away uncomfortably. With a sloppy “pop” sound he withdrawals them and brings the shiny pads to your lips. You eagerly wrap two of your hands around his wide wrist and happily start sucking on his fingers, licking your own cum off. The thick drops of it coat his knuckles like pearls.

“Easy, sweet girl,” he cooes when you take too much of his fingers at once and nearly choke. Michael brushes the sweaty strands of your hair to the side and gently pets your hollowed cheek.

“Thank you, Daddy,” you smile at him after every drop of your creamy essence has been swallowed.

Michael nods at you and lies down on his stomach next to you. He puts one of his arms under the pillow and rests his head on it. Despite the delightful smirk ghosting over his lips, Michael looks tired. You glance up at the clock.

4:10 a.m. Damn.

The sun is about to rise from the horizon. The eastern sky has already been filled with blended tones of rosy pinks and sandy yellows, welcoming a new day.

“Michael,” you cup his cheek in your hand and runs your thumb over his smooth cheek.

“Hm?” He responds tiredly and closes his eyes.

“Can we talk?”

Langdon shifts closer and wraps his arms that isn’t under the pillow around your waist and pulls you in. His grip is steal-like, holding you securely.

“My love, I am begging you, please, go to sleep,” he mumbles into your hair and presses his lips to your temple.

“But, I just...”

“Y/N,” he uses this tone on you that makes you bite your tongue. “We have eternity together, alright love? We’ll talk about everything tomorrow.”

You trace your finger over the bridge of his nose, to his full lips.

“Okay,” even though he can barely function at this moment, he still kisses your fingertips and the small gesture of affection makes you smile.

Soon enough, you peacefully fall asleep in the arms of Michael Langdon.

taglist: @avesatanormalpeoplescareme @ccodyfern @divinelangdon @sammythankyou @babypinkstyles94 @kaigitana @ms-mead @sebastianshoe @langdonsdemon @iloveziggystardust @chaoticevillangdon @sojournmichael @sloppy-little-witch-bitch26 @theghostoflangdon @ritualmichael @americanhorrorstudies @bbyduncan @nightsblackroses @langdvnshepherd @ccodyferns @isoldedax @coloursunlimited @micheallangdons @omgsuperstarg @1-800-bitchcraft @wroteclassicaly @ticklish-leafy-plant @littledemondani

[lonelypond]

Moonlight Becomes You: Apocalypse Midnight Dance Party, Ch. 9

Love Live/Love Live Sunshine, NozoEli, NicoMaki, KanaMari, YoshiMaru, 1.8K, 9/?

Summary: Most everyone settles in for a quiet night.

INTERLUDES

Pacing, Nico was frustrated and pacing, reminding herself of Eli on growl prowl as moonrise neared, Nico trying not to just throw herself into a wall to see how it sounded. That wasn’t how Nico coped, no, Nico did practical things, so taking a rag in hand she began to wipe down the counters. After that, the sliding doors, then maybe she would start chopping things for a stew or something. Not borscht though, Nico made a face, tongue out, gagging, even though there wasn’t anyone to amuse or tease. Beets, beets you could have too many of, and cream, cloying, heavy sweet cream...Eli’s new Russian food cravings were having too much influence on Nico’s meal choices. Tonight though, Nico was opting for a less cloggy choice. If Nico was eating alone, a crisp, fresh salad from locally sourced produce was the ticket...just the lightest dressing. She opened a cabinet, small bowl, olive oil, mustard, white wine vinegar, whisk, then take the chives out of the refrigerator and start chopping. Lift the knife, let it fall, get into a nice, non pacing rhythm, ignoring the people who were ignoring her by not blowing up her phone with apology texts, that was the ticket. And then, after the sensible salad, curling up on the sofa to watch K-Pop weekly roundups and eat strawberry gelato. That was the best way to spend an evening. Really it was. Nico knows all. That decided, Nico hummed as she assembled her dinner.

###

Kanan fell back into her couch, sighing. Mari flounced out of the bedroom, in her third outfit of the day, a bright --somehow -- gray sleeveless sweater dress that her hair fell off the shoulders of like the molten gold of the sun rising out of the sea. From her first sight of Mari, Kanan had never not been captivated by how that glow reflected Mari’s sunniness, inhumanly bright and impossibly brattish.

“How much did you scare Eli?” Kanan asked wearily, having developed over many years the dual capacity for enthusiasm and cynicism about the ‘helpful’ wrenches Mari in fix it mode would throw into the lives of their friends and acquaintances.

“Mio cuore, I’m not cruel. I did nothing to your dancer, except trying to get Nozomi to acknowledge the fact that she couldn’t take her eyes off the poor girl. And I can see why.”

“Mari.” Exasperated, Kanan closed her eyes, stretching her arm out along the couch, knowing what would come next. And there it was, the softest touch of feather soft strands, then the weight of Mari’s head against her shoulder.

“Ah, but you are the only beast for me, bella. We have always been linked by the thread of destiny.” Mari whispered against her ear with a touch of lips as soft as the slightest swell of the sea.

Kanan’s laugh was a bark, “No matter how much you gnaw at it.”

“KANAN.” Mari’s shock was genuine as she threw herself back across the couch, hand fluttering to cover her betrayed heart. Mari’s shock was always genuine when Kanan refused to let Mari charm her way out of confrontations.

“So Eli wasn’t crying because of you?” Kanan’s suspicions continued. The memory of Eli’s red rimmed eyes wouldn’t fade.

“No.” Mari’s dramatics were eclipsed by gentle concern.

“I wonder what it’s like to be surprised…” Kanan hesitated, caught by a sudden realization.

“Huh?”

“I always knew who I was.” Kanan reached her hands out for Mari’s, always so warm, always so willing to pull her out of fogs.

“Oh.” Mari frowned, scooting down the couch as Kanan reached out. “it must be terrifying.”

Kanan had watched Eli’s meticulous, unvarying warm up routine before every one of their rehearsals, the dancer slowly progressing through exercises and positions, always at the same slow speed, always in the same order. “Yeah.”

###

Dia was standing catty-corner to the fireplace, staring at the ocean. She’d only seen pictures of the Malibu estate like this, before the beach had been covered and the rock stairs useless at high tide. There were favorite corners she’d rather be tucked into, but Maki hadn’t invited her guests into the downstairs suites. The decorating was so strange anyway, complete absence of any hint of Nico, which made everything seem cold. Dia shivered, accidentally timed to a cough from You, who still persisted in flashing unforgettable legs in very forgettable, should be trashed shorts. Was this California in the early 21st century? Because, Dia decided, it could keep its complete lack of fashion aesthestic, before she wrenched her eyes from You’s tanned legs to the very worried blue eyes watching her.

“Weird for you, huh?” You chuckled.

“Can’t you find clothes?” Dia snapped, turning even further out to sea.

“Uh yeah, sorry about these.” You gestured at herself, “Wasn’t expecting Yoshiko to drop you into my day like that.”

“Is it Yoshiko or Yohane?” Dia wasn’t really curious, but these questions allowed her to loop around any looming embarrassments or admissions.

“Both.” You shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll explain.”

“I’m not sure she’ll have a chance. Why in the world would I…” Dia started, irritated.

“Don’t you want to get back home?” You parried with a shrewd question.

Dia sighed and sat on one of the chairs parallel to the window, pulling a leg up to rest her chin on, “Of course I do. But maybe this is a dream…?”

“Ooohh, I’ve never been in anyone’s dream with lighting like this.” You struck a pose, hands under her chin, fluttering her eyelashes at Dia.

“Silly.” Dia forced herself not to laugh but a corner of a smile snuck out.

“Ah,” You bounced dramatically to the opposite chair, “Your face does relax.”

Dia tossed her hair back, rolling her eyes so as to not encourage this friendliness. “You have a home, right? Go and get some clothes.”

“Your mother will never let me back in.” You stated flatly.

Dia thought for a long moment, then smiled and shrugged.

You groaned and threw her head back, “You’re all so cruel.”

“All right, Watanabe, everyone in the family is taller than you are…” As Maki entered the space with that announcement, You dramatically threw a forearm across her forehead. Completely ignoring her, Maki continued “so nothing is even near your size, but here’s a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. There’s a bathroom that way.” Maki tossed a pile of clothes in You’s direction and thumbed in the direction of the hall behind her. Turning to Dia, Maki handed her a much neater stack, “My mother has some casual clothes that seem like they might suit you. There’s a guest suite down that hall if you want to get changed there.”

Dia stood, her arms full of a fuzzy mint, tan and blue check jacquard sweater and a pair of black knit leggings with small slits at the ankles. Very much what her mama would consider casual wear and a little too relaxed for Dia, but not as much as if Maki had raided her own closet. “Thanks.”

Maki nodded. “The driver’s gone to get food. She’ll be back soon.” Maki glanced around the room, “The fire makes it nice here, but we can set dinner out on the table.”

Dia remembered so many nights, her mothers curled up in each other’s arms on a much pinker couch, staring into the fire as music played.

“That’s fine. I like it here.” Dia hugged the pile of clothes a little closer; at least her gandmother's perfume was familiar, berries and pale flowers and a clear musk, “I am a little cold though.”

“Mama’s got a shirt jacket somewhere.” Maki swivelled, “I’ll find it.”

Dia found herself wishing she’d stayed in the hospital room. This situation, here at home, but everything and everyone just a step not right, was becoming too disconcerting and she could feel not a head but a whole body ache starting. Maki, her eyes so kind, so watchful but without the deep warmth of maternal concern Dia was used to. Maki might not be the most demonstrative of parents, Dia and Ruby had Nico for that, but Dia’s first glance had met those loving eyes and she had drawn comfort from them since. Passionately perceptive, fiercely stubborn, endlessly generous; everything Dia had hoped to grow up to emulate. But here, Dia was a stranger, Maki was preoccupied with other concerns, and puzzlement flashed across amethyst more often than benevolence. It was going to be a full body headache, Dia thought, reaching a hand to rub her eyes, forgetting she had an armful of clothes, her knees suddenly failing, and You was right there, in a ridiculously large white shirt with black ink kanji that slid off her shoulders and sweats she was keeping up with one hand. The other seemed to be keeping Dia up. How silly.

“What did you do?” Maki’s voice sounded distant even as it echoed angrily around the room. Dia tried to blink, but her eyes wouldn’t open, sleep suddenly sounded perfect as she felt herself being eased down to the couch.

“I came back and she was so pale…”

“She said she was cold.”

“Is that a symptom?”

The voice that wasn’t Mama’s, what was her name again, Legs, You, right, Dia rambled to herself, You had squeaked with worry, that was nice but Dia was fine, she didn’t need any help, just a nap.

###

Hanamaru smiled at Yoshiko sprawled gracelessly over a chaise at the back of the bookstore. As soon as the fallen angel had returned to a comfortable place, the time displacement lag took over and Yoshiko had proven how affected by mortal failings she was now. But the snoring was cute, and the way her midnight hair splayed out against the warm red of the chair reminded Hanamaru of nights when her wife had had some energy left and Hanamaru could remind her of heavenly pleasures other than the celestial.

With a giggle, followed by a sigh, Hanamaru plugged in the refilled electric kettle. No sense remembering those scenes, until Yoshiko had a chance to recuperate. And then, there would probably still be issues to sort out related to the displaced Dia before they truly had time to themselves again

How could Hanamaru help? Too used to Yoshiko’s refusal to admit she needed assistance, Hanamaru realized this, while Yoshiko was safe in a restful oblivion, was the perfect time to do her own research. Perhaps there were some answers to be found in the future. As the tea kettle bubbled, a bright blue light flashing in the darkened room, Hanamaru moved to the locked cabinet, hidden in a jumble of seemingly random bookshelves. Time for her to consult the Book Of Riko, to see if prophecy held any answers someone less impulsive than Yoshiko could puzzle out.

A/N: Howdy.Cats and furniture have been moved; still trying to get back into some form of routine. How's your October? Any Halloween plans? We're doing scary stories and snacks (probably not scary) by fireside next weekend for our next theatrical adventure. I might read some bits of Dracula. 'Tis the season ; )

[definitely-not-an-alb]

Magical Machines In RoL: A short Round-Up

Shortening because this is long.

There’s a surprising number of  magical or mysterious devices we keep encountering:

The Pin in one of the Cat-Girls temple in Moon Over Soho

The Cunning Device in A Rare Book of Cunning Device

Lesley’s Phone-Bomb in The Hanging Tree

“Mary Engine”, (Might be related to Ada Lovelace’s design, as per Peter’s observations, might be some type of early calculator?)

“Some Type of Device” Babbage (Who worked with Lovelace) was working on for the Folly, according to Nightingale

And then there’s Lady Helena’s insistence that her tradition’s Magic Salons go back to Caroline from Ansbach, who, Peter notes, also hung about with one Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz (Who was – hopefully – not a machine, though he did write like he was running out of time and was generally low-key bonkers)

First three are kind of ??? so let’s look at the last three (+) instead

Why the fuck is Leibniz relevant for us?

Now, I’m not one for Great-Man-Histroy, but even I have to admit that Leibniz was, again, kind of off-the-Weird-Genius-charts. If you, say, want a literary or historical counterweight to Isaac Newton in Allsasser-Excentric-Genuis-Bullshit, he’s the man. Literally. Anygays. There are five(ish) things that connect Leibniz to the rest of the RoL Universe;

He’s connected with Caroline from Ansbach, as stated above

He dabbled in alchemy (well, he dabbled in everything)

He got into an academic bitch fight with Isaac Newton (Because either on of them plagiarized the other or they just invented the same Important Math Thing at roughtly the same time – we will never know ~~~)

He either  invented the binary code*  (aka thing that makes Computers go be-bop) or greatly improved it/anticipated a bunch of logic-probelms with it, depending on who you ask

He revolutionized early calculators by inventing the Leibniz Wheel (aka, the things that made Calculators go shrrrrrrrrrr for 200 years before things got funky and analytical)

(All of this is somewhere between the late 1660s – 1716s) (* same problem of the )

Early Calculators and Leibniz Wheels

(Aka a long and rambly part that you can skip if you don’t want to learn about Fancy Early Tech)

Early Calculators where mostly stuff like fancy modefied Abaci, but in the 1640s this french dude Pascal build an Arithmetic Machine, which used interlockign wheels to do what it says on the tin crunch numbers. This machine was both very cool and very suck-tastic; it could do math for you (yay); But it was also super expensive, hard to transport, harder to build, even harder to opperate and therefore prone to human error (boo). It was also limited to addition an subtraction. It didn’t really catch on.

Along comes Leibniz and designes the Leibniz Wheel (which, unlike the A.M.’s wheels, which needed 10 rotations per single digit, only needed a single rotation for any operation involving a single-digit number and could, in conjunction with other Leibniz wheels, carry over into higher digits more easily. He used it to build the first really usable Calculator(s). This Stepped Reckoner (which is what you get when you badly translate Stufenrechner) was easier to operate and it could perform all four basic operations. You could actually use it. Or, as this book puts it:

“The demand for Leibniz’s machines was largely for it’s help in calculating tables of common mathematical functions. In the seventeenth century producing one of these tables might have been a lifes’s work.”

Just, in case you wanted to know how rad people thought this was.

Here’s a link to a video of an animated Leibniz Wheel in use.

Babbage’s Difference Engine and Analytical Engine

Babbage’s Difference Engine (1820s/30s) and Analytical Engine (1830s), genreally considered the ‘first computer’ if they’d actually build it, was basically the attempt to stack as many Leibniz Wheel-ish Wheels (they used a variation, btu it‘s afaik the same concept) as possible on top of each other and operate them all simultaneously by using the technology of Joseph Marie Jacquard’s “programmable” Loom (invented around 1800, uses Punchcards to weave different & complex patterns) to brute-force complex mathematical problems.

The Difference Engine was supposed to use this system to calculate and print mathematical tables. It was supposed to be able to calculate polynoms and use sinus and cosinus and such (!!! I know that sounds easy when we all have a graphical calculator lying around at home like a useless math brick, but this is so cool!)

The Analytical Engine was a step up from this, as it should have functioned without human intervention and was upposed to be fully programmable. It even had something like 10 kB memory space. It was a computer, is what it is.

Now, Ada Lovelace took one long look at that and went “well, clearly this isn’t cool enough yet” because she was born a Byron and Just That Extra. She was also apparently called the Enchantress of Numbers by Babbage ... just ... like ... maybe ... okay.

Anyways, Ada, while trying to explain what the fuck this thing was supposed to do to the general science public, casually invented the analytical computer program. As you do. As you fucking do.

(Still using this book as well as this book btw) 

To make this clear: Babbage is that one kid who’s always finished first in Math Class because he actually knows how to make tht Unloved Math Brick Of Ugh do what he wants; Ada is that kid who wrote her own game for her Math Brick, hasn’t payed attention since Grade 6 and is currently reading a college-level informatic book under the table. In the first row, Isaac and Gottfried are throwing chalk at each other. Well, you get what I mean.

The Mary Engine

The Mary Engine is produced in the 1840s and is small enough to fit into the store room’s shelves. It’s not a Differentiation or an Analytical Engine, and probably also not a Stepped Reckoner.

But. This thing is actually incredible. The Mary Engine is TINY.

Babbage never finished either Engine. They only build on around 1900 iirr. Second off, the Engines where fuck off huge. Things the size of the Mary Engine really only came around in the early 1900 or so. ‘Enigmas’ (aka Rotor-Crypto-Machines, which are way less complex then actual calculators), while ‘invented’ shortly after WWI all over the world, only became small enough to be moved comfortably on-person during WWII. How the fuck did they get the Mary Engine that small in the 1840s?

If there’s anything I’m missing (or that I’ve gotten horribly wrong, because I’m a computer noob in the end) hit me up so that I can amend this thing. I don’t really have a Grand Fandom Theory or anything. This is just a list (+ minor explanations) of Cool Stuff. A lot of people probably already know this stuff, but I had fun writing this and it might bring people who weren’t raised in Leibniz-Central up to speed somewhat.

Now, another thing, because someone pointed it out a while ago (and I can’t! Believe! I didn’t make that connection!); Linden-Limmer. I really should have seen that one: I fucking live here. So: Hannover, Germany is kind of a bonkers town.

[amaintextile]

Hotel Bed Linen Sale

https://www.amaintextile.com/products/hotel-bed-linen/

High-quality hotel bed linen creates a comfortable and warm sleep for you when going out. Hotel linen suppliers adhere to the principle of quality first to produce hotel bed linen sets at the lowest price. If you intend to buy hotel quality bed linen, our hotel linen suppliers can provide the best quality of the linen at the lowest price.

 Linen Set

Amain can offer you high-quality linen set. In the next 30 years, we will continue to weave every product carefully to help every hotel room sell well，Each piece passed STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified. The linen set provided by the hotel linen suppliers is soft and skin-friendly. There are a variety of styles to choose from. The overall appearance is clean and tidy, which makes people feel relaxed. Different styles of hotel bed linen sets have different prices, which can meet the needs of different groups of people.

 Flat Sheet And Fitted Sheet

We could produce flat sheet and fitted sheet following your request within 10 days. Upgraded to Italy imported ITALEL high-speed loom and France imported Stäubli electronic jacquard faucet, greatly improving the weaving accuracy and efficiency，Time latitude and longitude, skills advance with the times. The flat sheet is smooth and tidy, and the fitted sheets are available in various specifications. A comfortable flat sheet and fitted sheets with appropriate specifications are very important to sleep quality. According to the requirements of customers, hotel linen suppliers will help customers select the satisfactory flat sheets and fitted sheets at the most appropriate price to improve customers’ sleep quality.

 Duvet Cover

Quilt covers not only prevent expensive quilts from being soiled, but also allow customers to intuitively perceive the quality of the hotel. Cooperate with many high-star hotels, well-known agents and distributors at home and abroad throughout the year。Abundant products, excellent quality and considerate service have been recognized by customers at home and abroad. Hotel-specific quilt cover, fine craftsmanship, easy to disassemble and wash, opening reinforcement, durable and strong. The duvet cover is selected from the finest piles, which is not only light, but also soft with good air permeability. The duvet cover allows you to enjoy a comfortable and sweet sleep every night. There are different new styles of duvet covers designed by hotel linen suppliers at different prices for consumers to purchase.

 Hotel Quality Bed Linen FAQs

Are the Price of Hotel Bedding Right for Customers?

The hotel bedding has a wide variety of style, which can meet the needs of customers at different prices. In addition to some complex styles, the hotel linen suppliers also provides simple and clean hotel bedding to give customers the best sleep experience at the best price.

 What’ s the Features of Hotel Linen Set?

The hotel linen suppliers supply hotel linen sets. Linen is one of the preferred raw materials for all kinds of high-end luxury goods because of its unique advantages such as strong fiber, softness, good color, resistance to friction in water, high temperature resistance, and fast heat dissipation. Compared with pure cotton and chemical fiber products, linen have antibacterial and anti-mite functions. Therefore, the hotel linen sets allows customers to feel more at ease when they go out to stay in a hotel.

 What’ s the Fabric of Hotel Bed Sheet

The bed sheets are made of wide-width fabrics that are soft to the touch and have good warmth. The linen fabric used by the hotel linen suppliers is easy to wash and dry, solid and wear-resistant, which greatly reduces cleaning costs and saves time for the hotel.

 What’ s the Characteristic of Hotel Quality Quilt Cover

The manufacturer upholds the principle of quality first and provides customers with hotel quality quilt cover. The covers are characterized by improving the soft and comfortable sleeping experience for customers. At the same time, different sizes of the hotel bed linen are designed to meet the needs of different hotel rooms.

[archivist-shanty]

A lot of the first computers were people. And a surprisingly large number were women, non-white, or both.

Being a human computer was often deemed work not for men. Especially a white man. And yet the ones used for human computers were often times not allowed into class rooms where the maths and sciences were taught.

When simple computers were designed in the early 19th century by Charles Babbage (the first one to have the concept of a programmable computer and thus the "Grandfatherther of Computers" but many considered him the true father of computers), women were the many source to use them.

It was, at the time, nothing more than the input of programs and data via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom.

For output, the machine would have a printer, a curve plotter and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch numbers onto cards to be read in later.

These cards were often input by women, and the cards were often read later by women. Something Charlie's Babbage originally insisted on. Not because it was "a better job for women" but because he wanted to go to the future faster and believed both sexes were needed.

And the most famous person he hired?

ADA LOVELACE.

Babbage wrote that Lovelace excelled in "the algebraic working out of the different problems, except, indeed, that relating to the numbers of Bernoulli, which I had offered to do to save Lady Lovelace the trouble. This she sent back to me for an amendment, having detected a grave mistake which I had made in the process."

He claimed without her, he would not have advanced in his dream as quickly as he did. She proves herself to him, and he took her on as an equal and give her her credit.

“I always remember having this fight with a random dude who claimed that ‘straight white men’ were the only true innovators. His prime example for this was the computer… the computer… THE COMPUTER!!! THE COM-PU-TER!!!

Alan Turing - Gay man and ‘father of computing’ Wren operating Bombe - The code cracking computers of the 2nd world war were entirely run by women Katherine Johnson - African American NASA mathematician and ‘Human computer�� Ada Lovelace - arguably the 1st computer programmer”

- Sacha Coward

Also Margaret Hamilton - NASA computer scientist who put the first man on the moon - an as-yet-unmatched feet of software engineering, here pictured beside the full source of that computer programme. #myhero

Grace Hopper - the woman that coined the term “bug”  

- @robinlayfield

[cooperhewitt]

Children Go Modern

From the time she arrived in the United States from Budapest in 1913, Ilonka Karasz was a force in New York City’s creative circles. Karasz’s oeuvre is diverse; over the course of her sixty-year career, she created furniture, textiles, silver, wallpapers, ceramics, and illustrations. Between 1925 and 1973, Karasz illustrated 186 covers for the New Yorker, including the 1939 World’s Fair edition in Cooper Hewitt’s collection.[1] Today, Karasz is widely known for the mid-century wallpapers that were produced by the New York firm, Katzenbach and Warren; however, Karasz’s early design work reveals a modernist aesthetic that is often overlooked.

In the 1920s and 30s, Ilonka Karasz’s experimentation with a variety of media was applauded by contemporary publications like House and Garden, but it was her unique textiles that seemed to garner the most acclaim. Karasz used various materials; she designed patterns for jacquard woven textiles as well as linen and rayon materials for F. Schumacher and Company’s Airplane and Motor Division in 1929, and  Karasz was one of the few women to design textiles for planes and cars, the symbols of modernity in the post-war period.[2] In 1929, House Beautiful wrote about Karasz’s textile designs, “From printed mohair to the woven materials produced on intricate Jacquard looms, and back again to straightforward oilcloth, Miss Karasz is designing with such a success that can be measured by both the practical terms of the manufacturer and the strict demands of good art.”[3]

In the 1930s, Karasz became interested in the interiors of nurseries and in 1935 she designed six children’s rooms for an exhibition at Saks Fifth Avenue. Moreover, Karasz contributed an article about the psychology of nursery design for the October 1935 issue of House and Garden. This bright orange and yellow carpet design drawing in the Cooper Hewitt’s collection demonstrates many of Karasz’s requirements for children’s designs. The solid blocks of color are combined with circles and swirls of varying sizes. The design recalls the geometric paintings of Piet Mondrian and reveals Karasz’s interest in abstraction and color. Ilonka Karasz’s writings and designs demonstrate her advocacy of radical Modernist ideals and her status in the canon of American design. In Karasz’s House and Garden article she discusses the importance of geometry and innovation in a child’s environment, “As children always do, he will imagine these cubes to be not only boxes but will relate them to things in Nature and the world around him…he will discover that in reality all things in Nature are built up of such units, that trees, flowers, animals and even people are related to such forms…through new theories of design, production and distribution, [these rooms] have more vision than the manufacturer who still insists upon Little Bo-Peep.”[4]

This drawing is included in the exhibition Ilonka Karasz, Works from the Collection on view at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum from October 14, 2017 to May 28, 2018.

Lily Gildor is a candidate in the MA History of Design and Curatorial Studies program offered at Parsons The New School of Design jointly with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. She is a Master’s fellow in the Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design department.

[1] Ashley Brown, “Ilonka Karasz: Rediscovering a Modernist Pioneer,” Studies in the Decorative Arts 8, no. 1 (2000): 87.

[2] Louise Bonney, “Modern Fabrics and the American Manufacturer,” Good Furniture and Decoration 34, no. 2 (February 1930): 88

[3] Helen Sprackling, “Modern Art in the Textile Field,” House and Beautiful 65, no. 4 (April 1929).

[4] Ilonka Karasz, “Children Go Modern,” House and Garden (October 1935): 103.

from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum http://ift.tt/2yHZVuC via IFTTT

[aannaxavier]

Benefits Of Choosing A Great Wall Art For Your Home Décor

With regards to inside plan, you don't simply need to stress over the shade of the paint or the sort of furniture course of action you need to go with – however, it is basically about the general structure of the considerable number of rooms in the house, which additionally incorporate your washrooms and kitchen.

You need to guarantee that the inside plan of the considerable number of rooms in the house orchestrates and consolidate numerous kinds of structure viewpoints that truly function admirably together and supplement one another – adjusting the whole standpoint of your inside.

The most dominant approach to highlight your inside plan or upgrade the shading and shade of the encompassing furnishings and your dividers is to get the best divider workmanship.

Divider workmanship is truly slanting nowadays and numerous property holders over the US are starting to put resources into various kind of divider craftsmanship mediums to altogether improve their inside plan – reviving diverse inside structure patterns and so forth.

A standout amongst the best things about divider workmanship design things, as campaigned artistic creations and pictures, and so on is the reality you truly don't need to be a craftsmanship master or pundit to plunge into your innovative side and get some incredible divider draped bits of craftsmanship to improve your huge dividers.

Another cool thing about divider workmanship is that you don't need to be strangely rich to get some extraordinary bits of work. How? All things considered, there is a lot of spending plan well-disposed divider workmanship items accessible available. Truly, these are proliferation and imitations of traditional and contemporary craftsmanship, yet they are similarly as credible and wonderful and can assume an instrumental job in boosting the style of your whole house without costing a lot.

It doesn't make a difference in the event that you in all honesty, yet the truth of the matter is, divider design and stylistic theme has turned into the most widely recognized things among mortgage holders that are ordinarily ignored, which is the reason you will meet such a large number of individuals who will say that their lounge rooms or main rooms still need a particular touch and complete and that they feel inadequate.

All things considered, divider craftsmanship has turned out to be a standout amongst the most relevant parts of inside plan, particularly with regards to rapidly evaluating and distinguishing what kind of shading palette the room needs, the general style and the sorts of embellishing things you require to truly set the disposition in the room right.

Significance of Wall Hangings

Use inside decorations for your home stylistic theme and to add elegance and excellence to the dividers of your home. The excellent and appealing divider woven artworks can be utilized for this reason as they can coordinate a wide range of stylistic layout. Embroidered works of art inside decorations are viewed as one of the most established artistic expressions and can lavish your home. The guests who might visit your home would be captivated by these lovely woven artworks. You yourself would feel that the room wherein you utilize these inside decorations has begun looking smooth and rich.

The Tapestry workmanship was extremely prominent in the medieval time when the lords and the nobles utilized them as inside decorations in their palaces and manors. The privileged additionally utilized the embroidered works of art tapestry as it was viewed as a sumptuous device. The excellent structures were woven into the rich thick texture which was utilized for the embroidered artwork. Brilliant strings have meshed into the embroidered artwork texture with the assistance of a jacquard loom so as to make these lovely inside decorations woven artworks. The completing touch is then included by the European specialists who are talented in the craftsmanship and guarantee that you get the best-woven artwork for your tapestries.

Distinctive tapestries embroidered artwork plans might be picked according to the topic of your home. For example, on the off chance that you are a religious individual who needs to demonstrate his confidence and faith in religion and god, you can utilize religious embroidered works of art. These embroidered works of art inside decoration can be added to the lounge room or might be utilized in your petition room or in network lobbies. In the past, these divider embroidered works of art were utilized by the congregation as it helped in portraying occasions and stories from the Bible.

On the off chance that you wish to utilize the divider woven artwork for your bedroom, at that point you can choose illustrious embroidered works of art, embroidered works of art with sentimental subjects, nautical scenes, and various different plans that with your own taste and inclination. The inside decorations can be utilized to embellish the dividers of your home or your office moreover. You can likewise utilize embellishments like embroidered artwork poles that can be utilized with the tapestries and make it look progressively alluring.

Related Links:

Velcro Tape | Picture Hanger | Magnetic Hook | Wall Hanging | Wall Décor | Self Adhesive Tape | Damage Free Hanging | Double Sided Tape

[jodybouchard9]

The Difference Between Duvets, Quilts, Coverlets, and Other Bed Toppers

iStock/EloisaConti

Tucking into a freshly made bed is heavenly, but choosing the right bed covering may leave you stumped. The options—duvets, coverlets, quilts, and bedspreads—are similar, but the details are distinct. How can you tell which one is right for you?

If you’re ready to get shopping, we have some good news: Spring is one of the prime times to buy new bedcovers, according to Kristin McGrath, editor and shopping expert at Offers.com.

Along with January white sales and Black Friday events, the warmer seasons are when home goods stores slash prices.

It’s worth noting that there aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to picking a coverlet or quilt.

“This is your personal space, and the look should be one that’s comfortable for you,” says Drew Henry, founder of Design Dudes.

Here’s a primer on the most common bed toppers and ways to work them into your decor.

Duvet

Photo by White + Gold Design

What it is: A type of bagged comforter filled with feathers or synthetic materials protected by a duvet cover (like a giant pillowcase) made from cotton, linen, or a combination of the two.

Hate to make the bed? A duvet may be right what you’re looking for since many people skip a top sheet and sleep directly under the duvet.

When to use it: This choice is ideal in colder climates, but even so, choosing a lightweight one might make the most fiscal sense.

“Unless you experience extreme winters, get a duvet you can use all year, rather than changing with the seasons, which necessitates buying two,” says McGrath.

Quilt

Photo by Pierce Allen

What it is: Quilts are made with stitched-together pieces of fabric with a stuffing of batting and a cloth backing. These toppers are lighter than duvets and can be used as the topmost bedspread or as an extra layer of warmth over sheets and blankets.

When to use it: By themselves, quilts are not as warm as duvets, but they’re thin enough so you can layer blankets and sheets underneath.

The design of most quilts gives off a country cottage vibe, so if you have a farmhouse, beach bungalow, or other rustic home, this is your go-to. Choose from traditional patchwork, country fair–type looks, or more modern designs.

Bedspread

Photo by TOTAL CONCEPTS

What it is: At its most basic, a bedspread fully covers the bed and pillows and extends to the floor. Midlevel hotels dress their beds with utilitarian spreads, often with a quilted design.

When to use it: A plain bedspread will fit in with most home styles, though you can up the luxe factor by layering a coverlet or a soft blanket at the foot of the bed.

Coverlet

Photo by Sabrina Alfin Interiors

What it is: This lightweight topper drapes to the bottom of the mattress and is designed to go over a heavier, thicker bedspread.

“This pick falls between a blanket and a quilt,” says Karen Gray-Plaisted of Design Solutions KGP.

When to use it: Coverlets are made of cotton, linen, velvet, or silk, and typically skew more modern in look than bedspreads.

Beds with coverlets are on the luxurious side as they usually have accompanying pillow shams made from matching fabrics like linen, velvet, or silk, says Gray-Plaisted.

Opt for a coverlet for your traditional bedrooms and elegant guest rooms—and know that it’ll likely need ironing to look smart.

Matelasse

Photo by Paris Perfect

What it is: French for “quilted” or “cushioned,” matelasse is a cover that features a raised, textured appearance that’s achieved by machine or a Jacquard loom. Matelasse is actually a kind of coverlet, but it’s thicker and more durable—and won’t require ironing.

When to use it: Decidedly feminine bedrooms look complete with a smooth matelasse cover and a folded quilt or comforter on the bed’s end.

The post The Difference Between Duvets, Quilts, Coverlets, and Other Bed Toppers appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

[lineara]

Robin J. Klang

Butterfly Core 893, 2015, Hand Jacquard Woven Cotton

Core Memory, 2012, 30" x 31", hand Jacquard woven silk and cotton

Butterfly Core 321, 2015, Hand Jacquard Woven Cotton and Chenille

Phantasmic Data Dawn, 2016, hand Jacquard woven cotton, synthetic yarns, hand dyed wool, plastic, metal rod, 56 inches x 98 inches

Your Norwegian-designed digital loom, Thread Controller 2 (TC2) is the only digital loom in New York City.  What is special about TC2 and how does it work?

To my knowledge, it’s the only one in the New York City—there may be others. To best describe how it works, I feel the need to first explain how the Jacquard loom differs from floor-loom style weaving. With the floor loom, warp threads are strung through heddles—they kind of look like eyes of a needle—and are tied in sections to foot pedals. You have to push those pedals in a certain order to make the threads lift and create your patterns.

With the Jacquard loom, the innovation involved replacing the foot pedal system by using punch cards, which had the capability of lifting the threads in more complex ways. It provided a faster way to make very complicated textiles. This was even before electricity—now most Jacquard looms are electric and automated. For instance, my loom runs on a vacuum pump.

Vibeke Vestby, the Norwegian woman who invented the TC2, looked to create a version of the contemporary Jacquard loom that embraced its digital capabilities but was still hand-operated, rather than automated.  This allows artists and designers the freedom of speed and technologic innovation, combined with experimentation that comes about with weaving by hand.  You have lot of room for material investigation because you can switch out colors and do things that would be not be very costly for—or could potentially damage—an industrial machine designed for speed and quantity.  Vibeke wanted to blend the two and create a version of the Jacquard loom that was hand operated—that’s what this machine is.

Files are designed on the computer, and then there’s a little bit of programming that happens where you have to translate the image into weave structures.  Afterwards, you are ready to turn on the machine and begin weaving, which involves inserting the horizontal weft yarns by hand, while the digital loom lifts the warp threads per each line of pixels in your file. The TC2 is not necessarily designed for huge mass production—it’s meant for handmade projects, but it’s still fast, much faster than what could happen on the floor-loom.

I'm interested in the capability of pushing those moments where the pattern is broken through a color change or inserting unusual material such as plastics. It’s the idea of mixing an element of the hand-made glitch into our understanding of technology.  In the textile customs of many indigenous cultures, there’s a practice of creating an intentional error within the piece—it's seen as an act of honoring the divine or indicating your imperfection. In Navajo culture it’s called the “spirit line”—a misplaced thread that looks like it’s breaking the symmetry but is actually intentionally situated there. I like to embrace this in my work as well—I find that it can take on an additional meaning in the context of the man versus machine conversation.  

How do you decide what imagery to use for your textile pieces? What do you see as the relationship between computer chips and weaving, or modern technology and the loom?

Currently, there are two crossovers in the history of weaving and technology that have become inspirations to my imagery. The first is involves the history of the Jacquard loom. When the loom was invented, it was the first time punch cards were ever used in a mechanized process. The idea of punch cards as binary information carriers—where the cards are either punched or not, zero or one—was later used by another inventor named Charles Babbage, who appropriated this punch card concept for what is now considered the first computer.  With this in mind, I've heard some people refer to the Jacquard loom as the grandmother to the computer. I think this is an especially beautiful reference because in Navajo culture, it was the grandmother spider who wove the universe in her womb and who taught humans how to weave.

The second crossover point involves the history of computer. During the first 20 years of computer history, the way the memory was stored involved woven copper wires and little magnetized beads. Those beads would be charged either positive or negative, again creating binary information but through magnetic memory. I find it fascinating that the early computer stored information through these little tiny weavings. Records indicate that it was mostly women who wove these because of the dexterity of their fingers, so there’s this amazing relationship between technology and the history of weaving.

Much of my imagery evokes these magnetic memory cores—I just love the idea how textiles have a rich relationship with memory.  Textiles have often been made to commemorate important milestones in life, such as a baby blanket, a wedding day dowry gift, or a protection shirt that’s created for a son who is going off to war. There’s memory, intention, and cultural identity wrapped up into this cloth that took someone an intensive amount of labor to create. It’s an interesting reference point for thinking about information and memory in the context of our digital culture. Some of them are more literal references to technology, and others reference symbols from a global textile history. Whether it’s ancient zoomorphic characters, iconic symbolism, motherboard hardware, or digital marks generated with photoshop spray brushes, it’s kind of all blended together, like a soup.

Through intention and references to history, many of the works present themselves in an almost totemic, quasi-spiritual way. Perhaps it’s a kind of investigation into ghosts in the machine and our collective consciousness, and a rapid technologically connected globalized world becoming reference points for when science, spirituality, and imagination meet.  Much has been written and theorized concerning technology and mysticism, and I often enjoy listening to books and lectures while I weave. It all gets imbued into the work.

What kinds of limitations do you find using a loom that you wouldn’t face if you working a different medium?

I think the main difficulty is the considerable amount of prep and behind-the-scenes work that happens. Actually weaving the piece, the fun part, goes relatively fast. For instance, I had to thread all those threads in the loom first—there’s 3,520 of them, and they all had to go through their own heddles in a particular order! There’s also the process of winding the warp, which can take months. There’s lot of labor that goes into prepping the loom so that you can weave on it. It’s a challenge. I think when people hear about the digital loom there’s an misconception that it’s more similar to 3D printing, where I can push a button and the thing is created.

Despite the challenges, I enjoy working with process-based media and I find there are little moments along the way that keep things exciting and provide constant opportunities to push what I can do with the machine. There’s still a lot to experiment with.

Textiles have a long and revered history as religious, illustrative, and decorative handmade objects dating back to 10,000 BC. Though in the 18th century, textiles were considered craft and often undermined as “women’s work.” Artists like Anni Albers, associated with the Bauhaus school of the 1920s, elevated textiles to the realm of fine art with modern, geometric abstractions. What role do you think textiles play in contemporary fine art now?

I think textiles have been more present within art history than people realize. There have been many waves of contemporary fiber and textile art since the Bauhaus. In the ‘60s and ‘70s these techniques were definitely very hot, and I think it’s interesting to note how that was also the moment when new media art was beginning as well. As with any movements that happen within the art world, there’s an adjustment period, and then it comes back around.

Now seems to be another moment where notions of craft, decoration, pattern, and high and low taste are being reconsidered within contemporary art.  I’m interested in presenting a perspective from an artist who is living through this digital transformation and questioning what that means in the world of textile art. Our virtual lives are consuming a great deal of our being—perhaps at the same time there’s a need more than ever for the tangible and tactile, a desire for something that’s a slower, more physical process, and a place where textiles can fill a niche.

How do you see yourself and your work in relation to the tradition of textile art, a historically women-dominated field?

While there’s a Western connotation of textiles always being made by women, that’s not actually the case in many countries. For instance, in Turkey, men create much of the textiles.

Fiber by nature is a very inclusive media, existing in a somewhat "other" space, not being specifically painting or sculpture.  That platform of inclusivity, as well as a carried notion of femininity, creates space for conversations about gender, politics, and identity.  Regardless of what gender background you associate with, approaching the concept of femininity in contemporary art as a conscious tool for what you are talking about can be really interesting and powerful, especially in a time such as now when we’re seeing another wave of gender equality movements. Textiles have a central place in that conversation.

In contradiction to the feminine, I think there’s a largely masculine element to the technological aspects in my work—in the same way as textiles may be associated with women in western ideology, the connotation of the computer world is that it’s predominantly male. This blending of the two is interesting to me.  However, the questions I’m most concerned with asking in my work have to do with process, history, memory, and the ghosts in the machine, though the associations with the materials will naturally be present.

[brandnewsome1-blog]

19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques

via WordPress ift.tt/2FZ57yI

TILBURG, the Netherlands — On a blurred morning in backward October, the Finnish artisan and artisan Kustaa Saksi and Stef Miero, a aberrant artefact developer actuality at TextielLab, conferred abaft adjoining computer screens in the laboratory’s analysis and development room.

22 best images about textiles combining techniques 2014 on … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

To their larboard lay a dozen ample spools of yarn — the paints for their canvas — with colors alignment from beaming orange to aphotic solids, and abstracts including silk, velvet, rubberized affection and mohair.

On Mr. Saksi’s awning was a design, across-the-board swirls of golds, pinks and purples that he had fatigued at his flat in Amsterdam, some 75 account arctic by car, and afresh emailed to Mr. Miero afore he arrived. The not-yet blue-blooded piece, destined to admeasurement 5.6 anxiety by 8.2 feet, was the aboriginal in a alternation of eight alloyed tapestries he was advancing for a abandoned appearance in Stockholm.

Mr. Miero had downloaded the cartoon into a software program, accessible on his screen, breadth he translated anniversary blush into a aggregate of threads.

“My banal plan will apparently change some,” said Mr. Saksi, whose audience accept included Bergdorf Goodman and Marimekko. “I’ll get aggressive by a actual or bounden or whatever Stef has in his mind. It’s like an activity painting. We can bandy altered yarns into the apparatus and accomplish changes as we go along.”

In a acceptable bolt plant, breadth time is money, accouterment doesn’t abeyance and assignment is conducted abaft bankrupt doors, a artisan experimenting with blush and arrangement during aberrant would be rare. But at TextielLab, internationally accustomed as a awful specialized assignment amplitude focused on innovations in alloyed and affiliate fabrics, analysis takes centermost stage.

Opened in 2005, the lab sits central the TextielMuseum, which was accustomed in 1958 to account Tilburg’s ancestry as a once-thriving absolute capital.

Landscape Painting: Characteristics, History – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

While the building still salutes the past, it now focuses on the approaching by curating abreast exhibitions, allotment artists to actualize adroit assignment and bearing a alternation of beautiful domiciliary bolt for sale, with the assembly assignment done in the lab. The boutique is abnormally accepted for kitchen towels, created mostly by adolescent designers, and sells about 13,000 a year.

The lab was rebooted bristles years ago, with an eye against innovation, said Hebe Verstappen, the lab’s director, who came from the bolt industry and manages a agents of 20. “We started to anticipate afresh about what the lab is for,” she said. “It’s not alone for visitors or production, but for blame the boundaries of techniques, advertent new processes and teaching the abutting generation.”

Some designers are arrive to the lab to assignment on commissions from the building or the lab itself, financed through civic arts funds. Others, including students, can pay a circadian amount to use the lab for analysis or to actualize prototypes or accomplished products. The agenda of industry heavyweights who accept advised assignment actuality includes Viktor & Rolf, Flat Formafantasma, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Flat Job and Scholten & Baijings. (In a anew opened sample studio, visitors can see, and alike touch, basic models that those designers and dozens of others accept made.)

“I anticipate the lab absolutely makes a aberration for bolt in the Netherlands and is why we’re so able-bodied accepted for them,” said Carole Baijings, who credits building commissions with cartoon all-embracing absorption to the flat that she and her partner, Stefan Scholten, accomplish in Amsterdam.

The lab, she said, has had a duke in aggregate from the duo’s cast adventurous colors to their aboriginal attack into florals for an exhibition at the building beforehand this year. And it is breadth they accomplish upholstery architecture samples for Scholten & Baijings’s accord with the ample New York-based bolt cast Maharam. (The lab additionally played a role in the exhibition “Scholten & Baijings: Lessons from the Studio,” which runs through Nov. 28 at the Cooper Hewitt building in New York.)

“You appear with your architecture and you accept all these adept craftsmen that apperceive how to get to the appropriate result,” Ms. Baijings said. “We’ve been alive for 14 years with Stef. For us, he’s like a tovenaar,” she added, application the Dutch chat for astrologer to accredit to Mr. Miero.

114 best Traditional Chinese Painting images on Pinterest … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

In the lab, Mr. Miero and Mr. Saksi discussed colors and textures while an intern took the yarns to a computerized Jacquard approach in the adjacent assembly area, breadth a sliding-glass aperture deadened the connected hum from the machine.

Mr. Saksi, who came to alloyed art in 2011 afterwards award success in clear architecture and illustration, credits Mr. Miero with “reading my mind” to construe his visions from cardboard to textile. “Magic happens every time,” the artisan said.

Another about newcomer to the average is Rafaël Rozendaal, a Dutch-Brazilian artisan based in New York who had been appointed to assignment in the lab the aforementioned day as Mr. Saksi but was clumsy to travel. Accepted for authoritative ultrabright art for online browsers, he aboriginal put his assignment into aberrant in 2014 and has alternate to the lab every year aback to complete a carpeting project.

His class partner, Marjan van Oeffelt, a artefact developer, connected after him (they batten daily), alive with active blush palettes he had created and experimenting with a two-tone cossack weave. “Artists are added out of the box and I’m added a technician,” Ms. van Oeffelt said. “I like that we apprentice from anniversary other. Sometimes they accompany you out of the bound and sometimes you accumulate them in it.”

Work by both Mr. Rozendaal and Mr. Saksi is in the museum’s abiding collection, and a ample Rozendaal allotment is in an exhibition “Colour & Abstraction: Generations in Dialogue” (to March 3).

Later in the day, Mr. Saksi and Mr. Miero angled over a loom, watching as alloyed strips were discharge out. “We’re aggravating to get the red to pop by abacus a little of the fluorescent,” Mr. Saksi said.

Nerdly Painter Science Themed Art – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

As he spoke, a few visitors wandered by, craning their necks. The absolute 11,840-square-foot assembly breadth is accessible to museum-goers, who can beam agents associates and designers at work. The amplitude contains three looms and four knitting machines, forth with assorted machines for the lab’s added specialties: embroidery; hand-tufting; passementerie, or adorning trim; and laser technology.

One-off art projects were the focus of best of the class assignment done on this accurate day, but that isn’t consistently the case.

In fact, the class was about to complete the better activity it anytime undertook: added than 1.8 afar of bolt for Central Outside, an autogenous and mural architecture flat founded by the Dutch artisan Petra Blaisse. The behemothic curtains, about walls of textile, were fabricated for LocHal, a above railroad annex actuality adapted into a cultural centermost and library in Tilburg.

“It’s a badly agitative project,” Ms. Blaisse said. “The assignment is actual beginning and you’re against abounding situations, abnormally technical. The absurd affair about actuality at the lab is that you can absolutely assignment with them hands-on.”

By midafternoon of Mr. Saksi’s visit, the aboriginal of bristles assignment canicule he was to absorb in the laboratory, he was aback in the analysis and development allowance analytical sample strips of tapestry.

He acicular out that the red appeared brighter, and afresh he hardly coiled up one end of the cloth.

Gongbi Painting – Chinese Traditional Painting with … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

“It’s still a bit stiff, so now we’re alive on that,” he said. “Overall, it’s a acceptable start.”

19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques – traditional landscape painting techniques | Welcome to my personal website, in this time We’ll explain to you regarding keyword. Now, this can be the 1st picture:

Art Contrarian: Jeremy Mann: Free and Tight on a Single … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Why not consider image above? is that will amazing???. if you’re more dedicated consequently, I’l t provide you with several picture again down below:

So, if you wish to acquire all of these wonderful pictures regarding (19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques), click save button to save these shots for your pc. They’re all set for download, if you’d rather and want to grab it, simply click save badge in the article, and it will be immediately saved to your notebook computer.} Finally in order to grab new and latest picture related with (19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques), please follow us on google plus or book mark this page, we attempt our best to give you daily up grade with all new and fresh graphics. We do hope you love keeping here. For many up-dates and recent information about (19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques) photos, please kindly follow us on tweets, path, Instagram and google plus, or you mark this page on bookmark area, We try to present you update periodically with fresh and new images, love your exploring, and find the perfect for you.

Thanks for visiting our site, contentabove (19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques) published . Nowadays we are delighted to announce that we have discovered an awfullyinteresting topicto be reviewed, namely (19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques) Lots of people looking for details about(19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques) and certainly one of them is you, is not it?

Korean Traditional Landscape Architecture Traditional Landscape … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Landscape painting – Wikipedia – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Traditional Chinese Landscape Painting Techniques Traditional … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Traditional Chinese Landscape Painting Techniques Traditional … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Traditional Chinese Paintings, History of Chinese Painting – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

IMG_2379C Anna Ancher 1859-1935 Skagen A young girl plucking a swann Jeune fille plumant une oie ca 1900 Aalborg. Museum of Modern Art Denmark – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Traditional Chinese Paintings, History of Chinese Painting – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

IMG_2379C Anna Ancher 1859-1935 Skagen A young girl plucking a swann Jeune fille plumant une oie ca 1900 Aalborg. Museum of Modern Art Denmark – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Watercolor Unleashed: New Directions for Traditional Painting … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Watercolor Unleashed: New Directions for Traditional Painting … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

How to Paint A Landscape: Acrylic Painting Technique: Online Art … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Watercolor Unleashed: New Directions for Traditional Painting … – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

Chinese Landscape Painting – Chinese Art – The Art History Archive – traditional landscape painting techniques | traditional landscape painting techniques

The post 19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques appeared first on Painter Legend.

Posted by painterlegend on 2018-12-06 01:30:42

Tagged: , landscape , painting , traditional , chinese , techniques

The post 19 Advantages Of Traditional Landscape Painting Techniques And How You Can Make Full Use Of It | traditional landscape painting techniques appeared first on Good Info.

[kfcseafood-blog1]

[TITLE]Crochet Baby Blanket Secret[/TITLE]

Jacquard bedding refers to cotton, silk or wool bedroom fabrics. It is a sophisticated woven cloth made up of different designs created on jacquard looms. It is commonly found not only on bedding sets but also on curtains, table covers and textiles. The most familiar jacquard bedding items are comforters, bed skirts and the intricately woven jacquard bedding in queen size. Here are a few things you need to know about, first of all. What you need to understand is that the very new bedding beginning of the Candida fungus is the intestine and more specifically our stomach. Here the fungus finds ample to feed on for an overgrowth. Now, one challenge that every parents faces is of shopping for baby gear as it oversized king comforter is not easy to carry the precious darling along while buying the essentials. Since the child is too small, you cannot even leave him/her at home for a while. Should you want to explore the bedding comforters, you will find them in all sizes like queen comforter sets as well as queen bedding, king comforters and also king bedding to teen bedding for boys and girls plus twin bedding. When buying new bedroom sets, whether it is bunk beds or captain beds, you can make a big difference in the way your children react to it if you purchase new bedding for it. Choose their favorite cartoon character or colors. Get new pillows and a new mattress if it is necessary to do so. This helps your child to feel more at home and more welcomed in the new space. It is also a great way to dress up the room. Crib: You don't want the crib release mechanisms to be too easy to undo or else baby could learn how. The wheels of the crib should lock. Remember to choose infant crib bedding that fits snugly up against the bars of the crib. It's a good idea to have a plastic cover for the mattress in case of accidents. Just like all the other household linen, the materials used for bed setting also vary. Some fabrics used for bed settings are synthetic, polyester, flannel and cotton. When selecting fabric, it is important to take into account the thread count since the density of threads of a can increase or decrease the level of sleeping comfort. The thread density means the number of threads in a square inch of fabric both horizontally and vertically. It may vary from 80 to 1000 while average thread count in most bet sets is about 200. Always remember that you should make a budget before california king bedding you purchase or search for youe bedding set. So that you won't pick a product that goes over uourbudget. Besides well-known luxury brands, you can find some bedding sets with discounts. Simply keep the above suggestion in mind and then go to find the perfect bedding comforter sets for you and your family.

[jasmineleeryan]

Chuck Close: Self-portrait/Five Part, State II (2009)

Critical Analysis: Assessment 2 

With technology rapidly advancing, artists are continually finding ways to work with its potential, rather than against it. Chuck Close (1940) is an American artist that has re-contextualised traditional art practices into the contemporary by utilising the “highly illusionistic, computer aided method of industrial weaving” (The Art Story, 2017). One of his most recent works that I saw at Out of Hand: Materialising the Digital exhibition was, Self-Portrait/Five Part, State II (2009) which explores every aspect of Close’s practice.  Close is well-known for his experimental and innovative techniques of painting the human face but has achieved fame due to his large-scale photo-realistic portrait paintings. His practice has developed using a range of other materials such as fingerprints, daguerreotypes, polaroids and even paper pulp that demonstrate his distinctive grid process that has guided his research. Through this critical analysis, I will explore the significant relationship between his material practice and process.

Self-Portrait/Five Part, 2009. Jacquard tapestry. State I: 71 x 185 in., Edition of 6. State II: 79 x 229 in., Edition of 6, panorama image taken at MAAS.

The unbelievable precision of Self-Portrait/Five Part reflects on Close’s intention as an artist. Seeing his work up close became the first step to understanding how these materials and technologies shaped the artwork. When my eyes first caught Close’s glassy stare there was this unreal intimacy about the experience. Five angles of Close’s face looked directly at me, the soft edges of his face melting into the background and forcing me to take a step back and admire the scale of the work, but its sheer scale was already restricting the eye to only sections of its detail at a time. It wasn’t the realism that overwhelmed me but the holographic qualities that the work developed as I guided my eyes across his faces. I think the qualities of the image created this illusion, replicating how the eye can only focus on a singular point, blurring it’s surrounding detail. There was this photographic element but was contrasted by the blackness that encompassed the faces which felt deeper than the room itself and brought the image further out, drawing me into its detail. However, as I moved closer, the details became stronger which challenged my expectations, my brain demanding to see the material that constructed this piece. It was not until the alarm went off and I stood face to face with the tapestry that I could see the complexity of its structure and the raw imperfections in his skin.  

Personal experience of Self-Portrait/Five Part, 2009. Jacquard tapestry. State I: 71 x 185 in., Edition of 6. State II: 79 x 229 in., Edition of 6.

The  Jacquard tapestry measures 79 x  229 inches in length which entirely covered the wall at the back of the gallery space, therefore separating it from the collection of objects that could have otherwise conflicted its intimate relationship with the viewer. The self-portrait images are based off daguerreotypes that Close has been working on since the 1990’s but don’t resemble traditional daguerreotypes which I will expand on later on. Close has reinvented tapestry and has brought this craft back into the limelight. By repurposing these somewhat redundant art practices, Close has made them contemporary. Throughout this process of critical analysis, I will be asking a lot of “why’s”; why daguerreotypes and not just a digital image? Why tapestry and not a large print, why portraits (Self-portrait 2009  in particular) and why make it at all?

Chuck Close has worked closely with Magnolia Editions’ Donald Farnsworth to refine and perfect the precision seen in Self-Portrait/Five Part. This panoramic series has “set a new standard for fine art tapestries” (Stone, 2009), by pushing the limitations of tapestry using the latest computer technology. The creation of this woven piece begins as a daguerreotype which is then translated into data known as a weave file and acts as a digital instruction set for the electronic Jacquard loom to read. This particular Dornier loom uses 17 800 Italian dyed cotton warp threads which generate a range of colours through various combinations and are woven at 75 shots per cm. Even though the weave is untouched by the artist, a colour palette ‘must be developed’ and can be continually refined to meet their intention. Close has been working on this piece since 2007, to reach the “level of fidelity and precision visible in the approved tapestry” (Stone,2009); producing up to a dozen weaves as a consequence of continuous experimentation of colour palettes. The whole tapestry isn’t woven each iteration and in an interview with Ilka Scobie, Close (2016) explains that they “do a lot of the work on the computer then [] start weaving strips. And then weave the whole”. It is this dedication to a process that defines Close’s work.

It is Close’s desire to represent the face through abstracted units that naturally led him to tapestry. To completely understand his progression to this medium, his intention as an artist needs to be defined. His tapestry work doesn’t immediately illustrate his signature grid method but by looking at one of his painted self-portraits, Self Portrait (1997), you can see how the grid has a direct correlation with the systematic process of tapestry. In this work the mechanical like process is demonstrated clearly, revealing the way he breaks his canvas into squares, and scaling up his subject. 

Self-Portrait, 1997, oil on canvas, 102 x 84 in. (259.1 x 213.4 cm).

What seems like an obsession could be related to Close’s prosopagnosia (face blindness) and his severe dyslexia, using it as “a way of processing information”(Lawrence 2004, p.136). Close (2012) states that he was “often overwhelmed by the whole” and would “break down things into bite sized pieces” which structured his process. Each cell in the grid would be filled in bit by bit with a distinct colour which would map out his first iteration. With each iteration, another colour would be inserted into the cell and so on until a phenomenon called “optical blending” would occur and form an abstracted human face. Close suggest,  “that his conceptual intentions are ultimately timeless, whereas his tools or materials are infinitely interchangeable.” (The Art Story, 2017). It is this translation from a given subject to a grid system that is fundamental to Close’s process and gives meaning to his work. The use of tapestry is just another step to involving an “alchemical transition from one state to another” (Stone, 2009) and demonstrating the artist’s engagement with material discourse “as a method of materialising ideas” (Carter 2004, p.7).

Close has engaged with modern technology as a tool to go where tapestry artist couldn't go before, and that is the ability to replicate photography. However, instead of starting from a digital image, Close begins with daguerreotypes which takes his process a step further and gives his work holographic qualities. Furthermore, his work starts as a material and is transformed into the digital and is then materialised again into a completely different state. But isn’t that a lot of effort for an image when it could have started digitally? These daguerreotypes also take on a modern aesthetic, unlike traditional daguerrotypes, therefore demonstrating Close’s dedication to detail and his ability to push his medium. When the method of printing an image onto a silver surface was invented, visual artists’ careers were threatened but it merely “fascinated” Chuck Close due to the “clarity and detail of the daguerreotype [and] nothing get’s lost” (Rexer, 2000). He magnified it’s qualities and modernised it’s aesthetic by using high-intensity strobe lights that emit 2 minutes of full sunlight in the expanse of a millisecond. Close (2000) also describes his work to be “all about focus and scale… The closer you get to a daguerreotype, the more you see. In some ways, it’s the opposite of a painting, which breaks down into brush strokes”. This idea is further explored in his tapestry and it’s ability to replicate the deep velvety black that his images do.  I think this is one aspect that separates analogue from the digital because there are still pixels that build a digital image and this characteristic contradicts what makes daguerreotypes significant to Close.

Furthermore, digital photography has changed the way a viewer interprets it’s meaning because “change the material and everything changes with it” (Herwirz 2008, p.139). The intention of photography started as the concept of documentation; the idea that “a photograph requires the presence of the subject for its production” which makes its existence so much more powerful. However, a digital photograph is still editable before it is materialised due to the advances in technology. Meaning the artist has “complete control over the final image, and has acquired the freedom of the painter to depict whatever he or she can imagine”(Cummins 2007, p.8). This materiality of daguerreotypes separates it from the digital because it evokes a more powerful and intimate relationship with the viewer. Close’s self-portrait does this so effortlessly because it is completely raw and is dramatised by its intense sharpness and scale.

Close’s work draws uptake historical significance of tapestry and reinvents it as a contemporary art form. The scale of the work resonates with this craft that goes back centuries, being produced to decorate walls during the medieval, renaissance and Arts and Crafts periods and was a form that was used to record history. Traditionally the weaver would hand weave using the horizontal threads or yarns (weft) to weave back and forth through long threads known as warp threads which were fixed vertically. The Jacquard loom was invented in 1804 which was a development of card weaving and revolutionised the process. This method followed its concept of patterns, allowing the weaver to “program” a pattern by threading various colours through the holes in the cards, the holes acting as on and off switches; if there were a hole, it would send the thread up and if there were not, it would send it down. This step forward in technology was still a lengthy process, taking months of work to complete a full tapestry but the punch card made it possible for the tapestry to be reproduced. The card used, known as perforated cards, were later used in player pianos and early computers that were able to select a thread to be used. Inevitably, computers became a tool for Close (2016), stating that “the computer, which owes its existence to tapestries, is a perfect medium in which to talk to the tapestry”. 

However, being once known as the rich man’s oil painting, tapestry has lost its common place in exhibitions because they have lost worth, partly due to  people being “puzzled by what their place is in the art world” (Grant, 2013) and the market unable to “decide whether they are real works of art or just expensive novelties”. This work demonstrates the potential qualities of this practice and how this art form doesn’t have to replicate its traditional purpose but be transformed through the technologies we have today. His commitment to detail is revived in his tapestry and its contrast against analogue photography emphasises his reinvention of past art technology. Close (2000) describes his purpose as “trying to banish the nostalgia from something old to make it about our time”. It demonstrates the influence of technology on art practice but it doesn’t change what it was before. Walter Benjamin (1935, p.16) explains this in … stating that “the history of every art form shows critical epochs in which certain art forms aspire to effect which could be fully obtained only with a changed technical standards, that is to say, in new art forms”. In saying this, this work has demonstrated how Close has pushed the expectation of what the new Jacquard technique can produce. An artist Kiki Smith (2013, Grant) thinks that due to this “a lot more artists will be drawn to creating works in this medium” which further strengthens Close’s influence on the revival of an old art form.

Through this work, Chuck Close isn’t making a statement but developing and exploring his process using yet another material. As a work that doesn’t seem over complicated at first glance, it is a product of complete dedication to process and structure. With each detail, there is a purpose and with every decision, there is experimentation. By utilising the modern techniques of tapestry, Close combines two historically significant art forms and transforms it into something truly contemporary. His process shows how artists can use the potential of technology as a technique to explore existing disciplines as a form of expression, without undermining its characteristics but developing its imperfections.

REFERENCES: 

Benjamin, W 1935, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, in Illumination, (ed.)Arendt, H, & ZOHN, H (1968). New York, pp. 3-16.

Carter, P 2004, Material Thinking: The Theory and Practice of Creative Research, Melbourne  University Press, Melbourne.

Chuck Close; American Painter and Photographer 2017, The Art Story Modern Art Insite, viewed 19 April 2017, < http://www.theartstory.org/artist-close-chuck-artworks.htm#pnt_7>.

Cummins, J 2007, Digital versus Analogue Photography, Waterford Institute of Technology, viewed 19 April 2017, < http://repository.wit.ie/961/1/Digital_versus_analogue_photography_a_compartive_analysis.pdf>.

Grant, D 2013, A Good Yarn: Artists’ Tapestries Are Popping Up in Museums, but They’re Not Yet Woven into the Market, OBSERVER, viewed 20 April 2017, < http://observer.com/2013/08/a-good-yarn-artists-tapestries-are-popping-up-in-museums-but-theyre-not-yet-woven-into-the-market/ >.

Herwitz, D 2008, ‘Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy’, New York: Continuum, London, p.139.

Lawrence, J 2004, ‘Chuck Close Houston and New York’, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. (146), no. (1211), p.136-137.

Rexer, L 2000, ‘ART/ARCHITECTURE; Chuck Close Rediscovers the Art in an Old Method’, The New York Times, 12 March, viewed 20 April 2017, <http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/12/arts/art-architecture-chuck-close-rediscovers-the-art-in-an-old-method.html>.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 2012, Chuck Close on following the grid, online video, 21 December, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, viewed 19 April 2017, < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e-p5M0vhZI>.

Scobie, I 2016, Close Encounter, Artnet Magazine, viewed 20 April 2017, <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/scobie/scobie8-5-08.asp>.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: The Lifespan of Bauhaus Utopianism

Erich Consemüller, “Woman in a B3 Club Chair by Marcel Breuer wearing a Mask by Oskar Schlemmer and a Dress by Lis Beyer” (1926) (© Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin)

PARIS — L’Esprit du Bauhaus (“The Bauhaus Spirit”) is a serenely spirited show that reintroduces us to the many and enduring innovations of Walter Gropius’s German art school. As many of the things on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs could be mistaken for products from contemporary global retail chains, we need to work backwards to extract principles from the objects by revisiting the theoretical and political-utopian premises that shaped them.

Herbert Bayer, “Postcard for Bauhaus exhibition” (1923), lithography (© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / All rights reserved)

Operational from 1919 to 1933 (when it was forced to close under Nazi pressure), the Bauhaus’s functional spirit was adroit open-mindedness in diametric opposition to that of “art for art’s sake.” The Bauhaus faculty included some of the most innovative artists and thinkers of the day. The school embraced everything avant-garde: from Dada photomontage, Functionalism, and Expressionism, to De Stijl and Constructivism. As a result, this show is sumptuous, with more than 900 objects that include furniture, textiles, ceramics, metal work, stained glass, mural paintings, sculpture (in wood and stone), weaving, typography, advertising, architectural models, photography, theater design, drawings, and paintings. Most are products of the school’s curriculum, created in class workshops.

Gropius, who considered himself a follower of John Ruskin and adhered to the ideals of Ruskin’s sublime, developed the curriculum based on his ideal of art as gesamtkunstwerk (or total artwork), which Ruskin traced back as far as the Gothic period. However, Gropius theorized that his 20th-century version of unified art harmony was only possible under the direction of a creative leader, which for him was the architect. Paradoxically, the historical legitimization of this concept was rooted in the medieval communal anonymity of working for the church. Yet Gropius used the expression “cathedral of future freedom” interchangeably with his more prosaic phrase “unitary work of art” when promoting his total-artwork ideal. In his 1919 programmatic essay “Architecture in the People’s Free State,” he explicitly revealed this integrative function, which he determined for all the arts under gesamtkunstwerk principles, predicting that different art forms would break their isolation from each other in Gothic fashion. That is why L’Esprit du Bauhaus kicks off with a 15th-century sculpted oak lectern from St. Pierre church in Subligny (in the center of France) as an example of cathedral aesthetics. For Gropius, the supreme model for artists was the organization of the guilds that worked together to build medieval cathedrals. However, near the lectern are also examples of art from Asia and two movements indebted to the philosophical history of Romanticism: the British Arts & Crafts movement and the Viennese Wiener Werkstätte (or Vienna Secession).

Peter Behrens, “Three Drinking Glasses from the Wertheim Set” (ca 1902), blown glass (© Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, Jean Tholance)

Gropius radicalized these movements’ Neo-Romantic ideas, making them the core of the Bauhaus’s pedagogy, drawing especially heavily from Henry Van de Velde’s Art Nouveau ambition to forge an alliance of industry and modern aesthetics. Van de Velde, a Gesamtkunstwerk-inspired designer, architect, and theorist, had earlier called for the unification of art into the space of the whole room (wallpapers, furniture, and paintings), and his Brussels company, the Société Van de Velde, created all the interior furnishings of his buildings, including rugs, metalwork, and, in one case, even a matching dress for the home’s owner. Van de Velde advocated in his tracts for the unification of all of the arts as an instrument of social reform and a rejection of historical forms. Living in Germany, he was associated with the rise of the Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) and became an early member of the Deutscher Werkbund, which invited him to build a theater for its planned exhibition in Köln in 1914. His reappraisal of the status of the applied arts became a fundamental issue in the Sezessionist movement.

T. Lux Feininger, “The Weavers on the Bauhaus Stairway” (1927); from left, going up the stairs: Lena Bergner, Grete Reichardt; center top: Gunta Stölzl; next to her: Lijuba Monastirsky; coming down: Otti Berger, Lis Beyer; on her right: Elisabeth Mueller, Rosa Berger; Ruth Hollos behind Lisbeth Oestreicher in front (© Bauhaus Archiv Berlin)

Surpassing the goals of Van de Velde, Gropius envisioned his Bauhaus as an educational institution that would be concerned with industrial design in service of an architectural totality — where architecture would endow the arts and crafts with unifying ideals. He put into pragmatic operation the cooperative gesamtkunstwerk ideals that cantilevered out of German idealist and Neo-Platonic philosophy and 19th-century cultural utopian Romanticism. It is consequential here to recall that Romanticism’s ideals proved an inducement to historical research, which in turn aroused a new interest in art history and stimulated the Neo-Gothic Revival trend of the early 19th century, from which the gesamtkunstwerk ideal re-emerged in Europe.

To a large extent, modern Neoplatonist philosophy led the way for the avant-garde artists and artisans who taught in and supervised the Bauhaus workshops. Johannes Itten, László Moholy-Nagy, and Josef Albers successively directed the school’s prerequisite course. Paul Klee taught art theory, Wassily Kandinsky mural painting, Oskar Schlemmer theater, Marcel Breuer furniture design, Theodor Bogler ceramics, Gunta Stölzl weaving, Marianne Brandt metalwork, Herbert Bayer graphic design, and Walter Peterhans photography. It is fascinating to discover some of the class materials here, such as Kandinsky’s “Nine Elements of the Chromatic Circle” (1922–33) placed near one of his explosive finished lithographs, “Kleine Welten I” (1922).

Wassily Kandinsky, “Nine Elements of the Chromatic Circle” (1922–33), painting on paper (photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Migeat)

Gunta Stölzl, “Five Chöre” (1928), jacquard weaving, cotton, wool, rayon, and silk (© St Annen-Museum / Fotoarchiv der Hansestadt Lübeck)

The Bauhaus faculty’s collective theory was that new materials, made available by new technology, should be used in the design and creation of both art and utilitarian objects, which in turn would integrate with larger architectural designs. Within that context, I very much enjoyed the school studies in texture and materials, exercises in color, rhythm, and movement, architectural models, textile samples, and typographic experiments on view alongside finished pieces, like Gunta Stölzl’s remarkable “Five Chöre” (1928) Jacquard weaving, produced at the Bauhaus Weaving Workshop. I also loved Ruth Consemuller’s playful “Tapestry” (1926) and a preparatory gouache by Anni Albers titled “Study for unexecuted wall hanging” (1926), which makes superb use of the interpenetrating principle of the loom itself in its repetitive motifs. The exhibition also includes many of Theodor Bogler’s unique pottery creations designed for industrial production, such as the charming “Teapot with Handle” (1923). It’s also truly thrilling to see the original Breuer “Wassily Chair (Club B3)” (1927) and Josef Albers’s cool and smartly seductive “Stacking Tables” (1927).

Anni Albers, “Study for unexecuted wallhanging” (1926), gouache with pencil on photo offset paper (© The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn)

T. Lux Feininger, “Mask for the Bauhaus Stage on the Roof of the Bauhaus School” (1928) (© Estate of T. Lux Feininger / Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin)

A great mass of diverse craft experimentation converged in the theater workshop that Schlemmer directed , as evidenced by some interesting photographs featured here. Marianne Brandt’s “Self-portrait reflected in a Globe in Bauhaus Atelier” (1928–29) and Erich Consemüller’s photo “Woman in a B3 Club Chair by Marcel Breuer wearing a Mask by Oskar Schlemmer and a Dress by Lis Beyer” (1926) are truly peculiar. As are Moholy-Nagy’s stereotypes and photograms, Schlemmer’s photo “Metalltanz or “’Dance in Metal’ (Carla Grosch) at the Bauhaus theatre in Dessau” (1929) and T. Lux Feininger’s photo “Mask for the Bauhaus Stage on the Roof of the Bauhaus School” (1928). Schlemmer’s presence is peppered throughout, as he was instrumental in the school’s many parties and frenetic celebrations, for which everyone participated in the creation of decorations, costumes, and invitation cards.

Marianne Brandt, “Self-portrait reflected in a Globe in Bauhaus Atelier” (1928–29) (© Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin / A.D.A.G.P. 2016)

Unknown, “Life at the Bauhaus, students in front of the studio and seen from the Bauhaus balcony (Front: Anni Albers, Gunta Stölz; behind: Bruno Streiff, Shlomoh Ben-David (Georg Gross), Gerda Marx, standing: Max Bill)” (1927) (© Bauhaus Archiv Berlin)

I found visually sophisticated an unknown student’s photograph, “Life at the Bauhaus” (1927), which suggests something of the concept of aesthetic convergence as Schlemmer defined it: social synthesis in a new society. Of course, it was in theater where progressive, utopian, gesamtkunstwerk ideals could be put instantaneously into practice through the blending of the arts. Toward that end, in 1926, Gropius founded the Bauhaus Theater, in which many of the partly realized total-art ideas came to fruition in the work of Schlemmer, Moholy-Nagy, and a number of the Bauhaus students whose ideas of total-theater consisted of an altered use of space. Moreover, in terms of the immersive gesamtkunstwerk, Gropius’s pivoting, 180-degree “Total Theater” design is consequential. It entailed a comprehensive, 180-degree stage design that included encompassing, movable architecture, a theater stage, and a cinema screen that united performers and audience in a rich, pluralistic synthesis. The spherical form of the theater situated the spectators around the edge of the rotund form, which, according to Gropius, set up a new perceptual rapport with the performance and enhanced the sense of immersion within the presentation of the spectacle. The term total was adapted by Gropius for this “Total Theater” (in spite of its limited version of the idea) so as to indicate that the viewer could see everything in its entirety. In his view, this totalizing use of physics, optics, and acoustics would produce a concentric field of view extending out in all directions. Gropius ideologically envisioned this new perceptual field as educating the masses and teaching a new way to think through the re-edification of the mass psyche.

Oskar Schlemmer, “Metalltanz” or ‘Dance in Metal’ (Carla Grosch) at the Bauhaus theater in Dessau” (1929), acetate film (© Bauhaus Archiv Berlin / Photography, Robert Binnermann)

Gropius’s ideal of total-architecture rejected the ideology of capitalistic profit, in which land was conceived of as a commodity, in favor of what he saw as a synthesis of the future. This overall visual effect was achieved by virtue of his latent Neo-Platonic sensibility, which shunned any form of decorative disguise and privileged the sleek, cool assurance with which good-looking and expensive materials are used to enrich the surfaces. That sleekness, in conjunction with Constructivism, eventually prompted Gropius to change the Bauhaus’s motto from “Art into Industry” to “Art and Technology, a New Unity.” Toward that end, in 1923, he organized the first Bauhaus exhibition around the Haus am Horn, a house designed by Georg Muche and executed by all the school’s workshops. In 1925, the school moved from Weimar to Dessau, into a new building illustrating Gropius’s ideology of unifying art and technology. The school’s campus included teachers’ houses, whose interiors and furniture were designed by Breuer. The Bauhaus continued in Dessau until 1932 when it had to close (due to the formation of a Communist student organization and a sex scandal) and move to Berlin. The school’s last director, the architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, decided to close the school in 1933. But here, the results of this largely utopian enterprise sit firmly before us, beautifully reminding us of what was and what might have been.

Marcel Breuer, “Wassily Chair (Club B3)” (1927), tubular chrome-plated steel structure, seat, back, and armrest in leather (© Ulrich Fiedler / Photographie, Martin Müller)

Josef Albers, “Tea Glass with Saucer and Stirrer” (1925), heat resistant glass, chrome-plated steel, ebony, and porcelain (© The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn)

Josef Albers, “Stacking Tables” (1927), ash veneer, black lacquer, painted glass (© The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, VG Bild – Kunst, Bonn)

Marianne Brandt, “Teapot” (ca 1924), silver and ebony (© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image of the MMA / A.D.A.G.P. 2016)

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, “Bauhauslampe” (1923–24), glass and nickel, created in the Bauhaus school’s workshop (photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jean-Claude Planchet / A.D.A.G.P. 2016)

Vassily Kandinsky, “Kleine Welten I” (1922), color lithography (photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / all rights reserved)

Theodor Bogler, “Teapot with Handle” (1923), stoneware (© Klassik Stiftung)

Ruth Consemuller, “Tapestry” (1926), woven wool (© Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Archiv der Moderne)

Unknown, “Work of a student from the Bauhaus Dessau/Berlin” (1926–33) (Paris Centre Pompidou, © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / ADAGP / Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Jacques Faujour)

Dörte Helm, “Postcard from a set of 20 lithographies” (1923) (© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Migeat)

L’Esprit du Bauhaus continues at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (107 Rue de Rivoli, 1st arrondissement, Paris, France) through February 26.

The post The Lifespan of Bauhaus Utopianism appeared first on Hyperallergic.

from Hyperallergic http://ift.tt/2lnWPpb via IFTTT