CAPONE, Francesca (ed.)
Weaving Language I: Lexicon

The Weaving Language series examines the poetics of weaving traditions through historical research as well as contemporary practices. Attempting to dismantle and rebuild commonplace understandings of the history of writing, Weaving Language focuses on fiber-based forms as a longstanding but often overlooked medium for record keeping, storytelling, and poetry. Weaving Language I: Lexicon is the first book in a three book series, and the last to be published in a trade edition.

In the newly edited and expanded edition of WLI: Lexicon, weaving processes are mapped onto English grammar to suggest a method for reading woven works. Offering visual vocabularies as both discreet concrete poems as well as a collection of translatable terms, this book invites readers, writers, and weavers to participate by considering weaving as a system that can be decoded. Textile forms are broken into the basic building blocks of language, presented as a visual/textual lexicon.

The book includes diagrams by Anni Albers (with permissions from the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation) and Raoul D’Harcourt, as well as an afterword by Kit Schluter, and contributions by Amaranth Borsuk, Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves, Imani Elizabeth Jackson, Allison Parrish, Kit Schluter, Martha Tuttle, and Sarah Zapata.

Published by Essay Press, 2022
Design by Francesca Capone
Crafts