Thread Ripper
Amalie Smith's Thread Ripper is a book that weaves together past and present in a way that makes you see textiles and technology with new eyes. If you are interested in weaving, mathematics, or just like a book that challenges your way of thinking, read it!
The book was published in 2020, and I borrowed it from biblo in May 2023, but it has stuck in my mind, so now I have just bought it and have started reading it again, so a slightly late recommendation.
In the book we meet both Ada Lovelace, the world's first programmer, and a contemporary artist who works with digital image weaving (Information guesses that it is the image weaving that hangs at Ørestad Gymnasium). Amalie Schmidt connects their worlds by examining how patterns, codes and threads are connected – both in the physical form of the weaving and in the digital language of the computer. The book is told in two tracks on the left and right pages, and as the story progresses, threads emerge that weave together across both pages. So elegant.
The book is written in a light and poetic language, so you flow through the pages and constantly get new images on your retina. Or at least that's what I did.
I am fascinated by the way Amalie Smith describes the loom as a kind of ancestor of the computer. When you consider that weaving has been a craft for centuries, it provides an interesting perspective on both the development of technology and contemporary discussions of artificial intelligence.
And of course, there's a love story woven into all the technology.
Reviews
Politiken gave the book five hearts ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ and wrote that it shows how literature can encompass everything from science to sensory experiences. Information praised it for making complex ideas easy to follow.
I think it's a book that gives new thoughts every time you open it.
If you're curious about how ancient crafts can inspire modern technology, or just want to read a book that stands out from the crowd, read Thread Ripper. It is both thought-provoking and beautiful.
New book by Amalie
And here at the beginning of 2025, Amalie Schmidt is actually current with a new book Terracotta:
“TERRACOTTA is a book about the connections between clay and life. About the urge of humans to create life themselves, artificially and biologically. To shape and let themselves dissolve. To retell the world from the beginning.
Why are the clay figures at the Antiquities Museum in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, so alive? What is life anyway, how did it arise on a barren planet? And how will it continue?”
I wonder if it should be on the wish list or at least on the order list at Biblo.
Enjoy!