Several have remarked that there's no way to predict what rugs and textiles collectors will collect in 2101.

In the context of that thought, I've been musing about how the intersection of technology and tradition might affect things in unexpected ways.

Most of us have seen newspaper articles indicating that the recent inexpensive availability of sonagrams has worked to reinforce the traditional preference for male children among poor villagers in India with a vengence. Pictures are being taken and female fetuses are being aborted at a great rate.

This made me wonder how the continuing development of and increasing availability of technology may impact rug and textile weaving.

Could it be that weavers of the future may scan the Internet for images that speak to them and weave those that do.

Might we have rugs with "fractal" designs? Take a look. Here is one set of them currently available.

http://www.calweb.com/~bjohnson/fract.html

And it only takes a little searching to find designs that are graphic representations of weather systems, of high altitude photograph and even of biological viruses.

I ran into a complex image of such a virus, last night, that could look tempting to someone who wanted a truly "different" red rug.

Can anyone else see some likely intersections of technology and tradition that might affect the rugs and textiles folks collect in 2101?

Regards,

R. John Howe

In a previous, one hour agoo, reply I mentioned wool cultivation in thirdworld plants. Even better is a layer of latex with sheep-skin-hair-cells. The nutricion provided is precolored. In this way you can grow your own rug, and I will pay you a vissit once and a while with my razorblade, in order to get your rug in tip-top trendy condition.

Best regards,
Vincent

As you will have noticed, I pushed the wrong button in responding to your comment above and inadvertently started a new thread entitled "Grow Your Own Rug" or some sort.

I do think the ways in which technology and tradition will intersect could have real impact on what rug and textile collectors collect in 2101 It's just difficult, if not impossible, to discern what those might be.

But I did intend for my post to be a response to yours above here.

Regards,

R. John Howe

This technology thing may well be the end of rug collecting as we know it.
I hear Bill Gates has dynamic, large video screens placed about his house that show different images of museum art works. (he could afford the real thing)
With Virtual Reality video and HDTV we could all be walking around surrounded by virtual rugs of the finest examples. I can only imagine the ability one will have to really take a good look at a rug, imaging the whole rug and swooping in for the microscopic closeup of the wool strands - even down to the DNA!
Vincent will be floating in cyber-rug-space, with repairs magically performing themselves and the mythical flying carpet at our feet. Our own living room could be covered entirely with a surround-around of the tactilely perfect Ardebil carpet that would morph into a sublime Serapi at the flick of a thought wave.
Brought to you by Microsoft version XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!

Fancifully yours,

Patrick Weiler

I doubt that technology will eliminate the rug from rug collecting. I would be surprised if the catalog-type, mostly pictures, rug book will still be around 100 years hence, though, as electronic versions can show the images faster, bigger, with more flexibility (you don't need a magnifying glass to enlarge a bit of an image on a monitor) and take up nearly no space in the home.

The Netherlands will be an exception since, projecting current trends, everyone will be living in houses with at least 10,000 square meters of floor space, and having books on the walls will be a status symbol.

Steve Price

Some aspects of what Pat is suggesting here are likely for the real future (although, I know some collectors of computer images who conspire to aggregate ever and ever greater memory and backup capabilities in order to pursue and to conserve their electronic image collections.).

But something of this sort is already happening, without our noticing it much. I just counted and I have 227 rug book within reach and that does not include my Halis or 25 years of Sotheby's NY and London and Christie's NY rug auction catalogs, that a nice experienced collector recently gave me, or my own collection of Skinner and other miscellaneous rug auction catalogs.

There are, on the other hand, perhaps 50 to 60 pieces in my actual rug collection. (My wife wants me to count now but I'm not doing it.)

Jerry Silverman, who does collect rugs, seems even more interested in rug books and his email address refers to the books not to the rugs.

This may in fact be a wise choice of emphasis. Someone has said that the value of the rug books is appreciating far faster than that of the rugs.

So I think without noticing it much, we are often moving in some arenas of our collecting into images rather than rugs we relate to "in the fabric," so to speak.

Regards,

R. John Howe

You will be seeing computers that are no thicker than a plastic transparency quite soon. The idea is to be able to fold it up and put it in your pocket. There are already computer screens that can literally be painted onto surfaces. The "innards" that operate they system are similarly painted on and the information is stored in cyberspace. This will allow one to "paint" the walls and ceiling and floors so that they are a computer screen. One could reproduce the surroundings of a favorite restaurant in the dining room. If you can't make it to the antique rug store, you can hook into their web site that wold allow you to virtually be inside their showroom and the rugs would be displayed on your floor in front of you. 3-D technology would even allow your living room wall to appear as a picture window looking out to the avenue in front of the rug store in "real time" and you could see the pedestrians walking by as you make your vicarious selections. The rugs you want could either be yours to display on your computer floor or be shipped in person to your home (for an extra charge of course).
In the Netherlands they will be able to display, in their living rooms, the 120' x 60' rug woven a few years ago for a Saudi Prince.
Of course, this is all assuming there will not be an international military conflagration, meteor impact or weather change that would have our great grandchildren living in yurts and weaving their own little rugs and bags and wondering what all those little computer chips were used for in the deep, dark past.

Optimistically yours,

Patrick Weiler