Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Theory

Time is like embroidery - on the face of it, it looks reasonable, rational and well-ordered. But underneath, it is a seemingly disorganized mass of erratic stitches; threads that seem to have no correlation to the pattern above, and yet each stitch is placed in such a way so it will appear harmoniously above.

How can our lives within the insubstantial "seen" transcend that fabric while we are still here and corporeal? Maybe it's not time travel, or The Matrix, but another state of transcendence... Perhaps this is how ghosts have become part of our mythology - how can they be envisioned when we do not return to this "seen" after death? Perhaps the linen is worn thin in places (since entropy is inescapable) and we are able to see the incomprehensible mass of stitches underneath.

2 comments:

Mike Howell said...

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your embroidery.

It's an interesting theory. Just out of curiosity, if an embroidered piece is lit strongly from the back can you see the hidden thread pattern?

Susania said...

You, sir, are very clever.

You really can't see the hidden pattern because the stitches on top obscure them, even with strong lighting... what is interesting about antique pieces is that often, you find the colors on the back are much more vivid than the ones on top, because they haven't been faded; they've been protected from strong light. What analogy can we make from that?