Carpet design 1898

Curator: Here we have a carpet design by Otto Eckmann, dating from 1898. Eckmann, a prominent figure in the Art Nouveau movement, worked extensively in various media, and this textile piece exemplifies his interest in bringing art into everyday life. Editor: My first thought? This feels…haunted. Like a faded memory clinging to the floorboards. I mean that in the best possible way! It's evocative, with a slightly melancholic beauty. Curator: It's fascinating to consider the labor involved in creating this. Weaving is a deeply material process, transforming raw fibers through human skill and technology into something both functional and decorative. Eckmann’s design, with its repeating organic motifs, likely required considerable time and collaboration within a workshop setting. Editor: Right, and the texture, the subtle variations in the weave itself…you can almost feel the hands that crafted it. There's a certain vulnerability in handmade objects; each imperfection is a testament to its creation, to the hours someone poured into bringing this into being. The central design almost looks like branches reaching out, connecting to each other in the very centre. Curator: Exactly! Eckmann's move was strategic, contrasting the industrial era's mass production. Art Nouveau artists tried to reclaim traditional crafts. This piece, probably woven in a factory with modified hand-looms, blends mechanized techniques and handwork and blurs these high and low art categories, doesn't it? Editor: It definitely does! I imagine it under the feet of people having lively conversation with wine, as well. Almost feels wrong now, though, knowing all that work involved... But it served a purpose, even while we still analyse it today! What I’m taking away is how design can carry echoes of the past and become material and textural embodiments of nature itself. Curator: Precisely. Considering this carpet’s function in a domestic space invites a reflection on daily life. It asks us how labor, materiality, and design aesthetics are intricately interwoven into our experiences, questioning how we relate to the objects surrounding us. Editor: Thinking about it now makes the entire artwork different in my eyes. Fascinating how that can happen, just through conversation, right?