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Knitting Data: Data Visualization and CraftsMain MenuKNITTING DATA: DATA VISUALIZATION AND CRAFTSCraft as Recorded InformationKnitting DataPattern and Pattern KeyGalleryBibliographyRebecca Michelson4a4ccee9feeebed3cb8d89cff64cd7c90a95f6d5
Quipu in the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha, Cusco
1media/Quipo_in_the_Museo_Machu_Picchu,_Casa_Concha,_Cusco_thumb.jpg2020-04-28T15:32:57-07:00Bryn Zieglerf534bbc0abefbfe22920edbf88bff7be084a5b70370471Quipu in the Museo Machu Picchu, Casa Concha, Cuscoplain2020-04-28T15:32:57-07:00Bryn Zieglerf534bbc0abefbfe22920edbf88bff7be084a5b70
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1media/grey cowl 1.JPG2020-04-02T10:59:33-07:00Craft as Recorded Information38gallery9785142020-05-06T15:23:34-07:00Craftsare always communicating something. Often what they say is personal-- like how the pattern of a sweater you’ve decided to knit expresses your sense of style-- but crafts have a long history as the means of recording and communicating data about communities and societies too. In this section we will take you through three ways that crafts have communicated over time.
Quipu (also spelled khipu) were multicolored braided cords, used historically in the Inca Empire and other Andean South American cultures to send messages on foot over large distances. In Color, A Natural History of the Palette author Victoria Finlay writes: "Every color and knot meant something different. So a black string represented time, yellow was gold, and blue referred to the sky and-- by extension-- the gods... it was life, power and death all bound up in a single piece of string." These cords carried vital coded information, passed from runner to runner to get to their destination-- and they are probably the closest ancestor to the knitting data projects you will see next!
