Woven Structure Pattern

Designer: Arai Jun'ichi

1984

Cotton, jacquard, double-weave

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A black and white textile features a complex woven pattern with a sense of depth and texture. The fabric has frayed edges, suggesting it might be a sample or a piece of a larger work. In 1984 the renowned Japanese weaver Junichi Arai, Reiko Sudo and others formed a new company, NUNO, to create distinctive, contemporary textiles. This fabric was one of first textiles produced and is a celebration of cloth, traditional as well as modern. The pattern was taken from a rumpled piece of African <I>Kente</I> cloth, which was photocopied over and over again until the image pixilated into a distinctive design that human hands could never have produced. Then 3, 600 punch cards were made to program a jacquard loom that had been threaded with a very high twist yarn, traditionally made for the production of crepe silk cloth.