Why knots?

(I fear that the knot pun will never get tiring)

Our project for the Materialities module is to explore a material through any of the following activities: conducting hands-on experiments with your “material” or “thing”; proposing speculative designs for its alternative use or “re-use”; public performances or interventions that deals with its exploitation, consumption, or disposal.

My material is a knot. I chose it because I am interested in how the knot is a material quality of a thing, but it is also a process. Initially I was drawn to knots through Engeström’s theory of learning, in which he likens the learning process to knot making:

“Learning is exploratory movement in space and the meaningful encounters that occur between ‘heterogeneous actors and their lives of movement’ that Engeström likens to knot forming. These collaborative ‘knots’ are particularly critical between nonlinear wayfaring trails and predominantly straightforward lines of transport”

Sprake, Juliet. (2012) Learning-through-Touring: Mobilising Learners and Touring Technologies to Creatively Explore the Built Environment. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.