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Jennie
Parry: Ply-split braiding is, almost certainly, a new technique and
structure to our readers. Can you explain the basic principles?
Peter Collingwood: Every fabric has its
own way of joining threads together into a coherent whole... in weaving they
are interlaced, in knitting they are interlooped, and so on. In ply-splitting
one cord, which can be 2, 3 or 4 ply, has its plies forced open and a neighbouring
cord pulled right through that opening, a very simple operation. The normal
product is a braid with all the threads travelling obliquely, so quite different
from a woven textile. The only equipment required is some tool to open the plies
and ease the other thread through; a large-eyed wooden needle is the traditional
choice. I used artery forceps or a latch hook initially but then I was introduced
to the neat Gripfid, an adaptation of a sailor's tool for working rope. But
even that is not necessary, as proved by Erroll Pires who uses especially long
thumbnails! The cords that are to be split must have a very tight twist, which
is not usually found in commercial yarns. So workers normally make their own
cords, using either a simple hand-drill or a more advanced four-hook twister,
a new invention stimulated by this craft. That the cords are made naturally
means the fibre used, its thickness or colour, the degree of twist introduced,
are all controllable parameters, carefully related to the eventual use of the
object made. Apart from its basic simplicity, the technique is wonderfully portable,
pointing back to its original use by nomadic camel-herders.
Jim Pochert: Polyhedron # 2
2000. Cotton. 11 x 11 x 11 x cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
When did you first become aware of it?
PC:
I was given a ply-split camel girth in America, then acquired some direct from
India; but it was the ground-breaking book published in 1982 by Nancy Quick
and Betsy Stein, two Californian graduates, that really opened my eyes.
JP:
What drew you to research it?
PC:
The fact that it was, amazingly, a technique then totally unknown in the West.
What can be done with threads always fascinates me, but my researches so far
have been on methods that have a venerable history stretching back centuries,
such as sprang, rugs and tablet weaving. So to discover there was this 'new'
technique proved irresistible. I felt that it deserved further study than Quick
and Stein could perform in their limited time in Rajasthan.
Katoko Kitade: Air Tube 2
2000. Paper yarn. 25 x 25 x 8 cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
Presumably, in order to communicate and record the structures it was necessary
to develop accurate language for the procedures?
PC:
Yes, very true. Textile terminology is crucially important; especially to distinguish
between the structure produced and the technique used, and not try to combine
both concepts in one name. Noémi Speiser and I agonised endlessly via
fax before settling on names for structures, which even now we realise are not
perfect.
JP:
You have been well placed to observe the growing interest over the last 15 years.
What excited you at Expanding the Girths?
PC:
The free form users of the technique have discovered that once you leave the
strict flat-braid format, it becomes an incredibly diverse technique. Almost
all launched into three dimensions: Ann Norman showed brilliantly-coloured baskets;
Linda Hendrickson had made hats with strong geometric patterns; Noémi
Speiser showed a collection of monochrome slippers, each one a miracle of invention;
Jim Pochert had us all puzzled by his amazing mathematical shapes; Jennie Parry
persuaded stiff commercial rope to adopt sinuous sculptural forms - and there
were many more. They often showed that, though using yarn, some ply-split structures
can give the object solidity. There really seems no limit to the shapes and
curves possible with this still young technique.
Akiko Shimanuki: Katachi B
2001. Cotton and silk kimono. 35 x 35 x 4 cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
Nearly all the traditional work is highly patterned, but not the contemporary
work, which is more textured. How much is this likely to be because we are coming
to the technique as basket makers, weavers, braid makers and embroiderers, or
because we are still new to the work?
PC:
The Indian girth-makers are producing very strong functional cinches to hold
the saddle onto a camel. So strength is the prime consideration and quite often
girths are plain undecorated black. If they are decorated they are a very public
demonstration of the maker's skill, so he (they are all made by men) tries to
show off all his abilities. Ishwar Singh, the most famous Indian maker, estimated
the skill of a maker by the non-repetition of motifs along a girth's length.
Western makers today, for one thing do not have that reservoir of traditional
motifs to reach into, so they try to experiment in a non-representational way.
Also, seeing the shaping possibilities, they find them hard to resist! Many
basic basketry principles can of course be applied to ply-splitting. Maybe in
the future we will see a combination of shaping and surface patterning.
Peter Collingwood: Triaxial Bowl #3
2001. Coir. 50 x 50 x 25 cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
The traditional makers in Rajasthan and Gujarat use goat hair and cotton. Here
there was a range of materials - paper, alpaca, linen, cotton, polypropylene,
and even strips of silk kimono. How have the inherent properties of the materials
expanded ply-split braiding?
PC:
Because the product is not linked to a specific use, it can be either softer
or far stiffer than a camel girth; so cords can be twisted from many types of
material, each with its own characteristic. Thus soft cotton cords can be used
to make a full-length dress, or stainless steel yarn to make a stiff basket.
Once you have a cord-twister there is a temptation to make cords from anything
lying around. Even strips of plastic bags or paper towelling can make exciting
cords. The stiffness of cords made from lightweight commercial paper yarn was
exploited in Katoko's airy tubes, the very antithesis to the denseness of traditional
work. The neat fineness of Julie Hedges' jewellery depends on her skilful use
and dyeing of linen cords.
JP:
A few exhibitors dyed their yarns before making the cords, but Rieko Yamane
worked in a different way. Can you tell us more about her approach?
PC:
I think she is the first to investigate the wet after-treatment of a ply-split
object, a practice of course common with most woven textiles. She soaks her
ingeniously-made bowl shapes in water and then dips them repeatedly in persimmon,
each dip lasting only a minute. When dry they are literally as compact and hard
as wood and a beautiful brown colour, its depth depending on the number of dips.
Erroll Pires used space-dyed yarns in his dresses. There is obviously more to
be done in the direction of dyed cords.
Peter Collingwood: Slit Pot
2001. Paper yarn. 30 x 25 x 15 cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
Unwrapping the exhibits from many countries for the first time was very exciting,
especially to find such different styles and scale of work. How much of this
is a result of the style and approach of teachers, and how much is due to the
place of textiles within the culture of the different countries?
PC:
I think the Japanese exhibits which added so much to the show probably all stem
from the teaching of Akiko Shimanuki, herself a wonderfully inventive ply-splitter,
even using cords made from old silk kimonos. I remember she ordered about ten
copies of my book when it appeared, so she was the chief disseminator of the
technique in Japan. I think this was augmented by the Japanese tradition for
meticulous, careful work. I believe most of the other exhibitors were solo workers,
who probably attended one or two courses and then voyaged forth. The basic manoeuvre
is so simple that once it has been learned (in 30 seconds) the world is your
oyster. The only limits are those set by your imagination.
Rieko Yamane: Basket A, Basket B, & Basket C
2001. Linen. 16 x 12 x 12 cm, 13 x 16 x 16 cm, 10 x 20 x 20cm
Click the image to see a bigger version
JP:
How do you see ply-split braiding developing since this first international
convention? What next?
PC:
What we saw at the exhibition was amazing enough! So many completely new interpretations,
that it was hard to realise there was any connection between the traditional
and contemporary work; they were worlds apart. I hope that as knowledge of the
technique spreads (and you will find every user keen to give you an instant
lesson!), new avenues will be explored, and maybe some more functional artefacts
produced, like Erroll's shoulder bags. If what was collected for that first
convention is any guide, the next one will be a show-stopper!
Bibliography
The Techniques
of Ply-split Braiding by Peter Collingwood (1998) Bellew ISBN 1 85725 133
4.
The Maker's Hand by Peter Collingwood (1987/98) Lark Books & Interweave
Press ISBN 0 7134 5645 0
(previously published as Textile & Weaving Structures).
Ply-split Camel Girths of West India by Betsy D. Quick & Judith A. Stein
(1982) Pamphlet Series Vol. 1, Number 7, Museum of Cultural History, University
of California, Los Angeles.
Split-ply Twining by Virginia Harvey (1976) Monograph 1, HTH Publishers,
Santa Ana, CA 92705 ISBN 0 916658 32 5.
The Manual of Braiding by Noémi Speiser (first published 1983,
several editions) self-published Ziefnerstrasse 25, CH-4424 Arboldswil, Switzerland.
Expanding the Girths, published by Spliterati-01, 2001. Collection of
articles, available from Ann Norman, Sagaman, Aston Road, Bampton, Oxon OX18
2AL.
Peter Collingwood: Though living from weaving, after abandoning medicine, I have always had an intense interest in any method of thread inter-working. After tablet weaving and sprang had been dealt with, ply-split braiding was the exciting next technique I approached. I compiled what I hoped would be the complete book on the subject. What is now apparent is that quite new applications are being found for a technique originally tied exclusively to camel trappings.
This article is from Embroidery, Volume 53 No.2, © Jennie Parry.