Tapestries are an incredibly detailed, maximal form of visual communication. With every inch of a frame filled by imagery, any given cross sectionof this kind of composition contains a flood of lexicon with suggesting narrative and metaphoric meaning. This comes from limitations to production - you can only afford to make, transport and display one image.


Their heavy use of symbolism creates a frictionless interplay between maker, object and audience. there’s little distance between the process of thinking something and articulating it, it’s instant in this way. 

Tapestries are used to spread cultural information. Stories about what the culture of a place and time was.

There is a naivity to the procees which is followed when a tapestry is made. All your thoughts are emptied into one image is refreshing as a process there is no room left to overthink what the best way to output a thought is, everything is just bundled in together.

You only had one square wooden block to work with. The visual language, composition framing etc is led by the distribution means. You only have one image at tyour disposal, its a product of the limitations to distribution and production. You have to cram all the meaning, details, fragments and story into one image.

Often as a result of this multiple perspectivesare flattened into one.