More recycled doilies:
Bluesky
BEBINA BUNNY free download here
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Yūgen doilies
I often go to the outdoor market near my studio. One of the main things I look for is the second hand table full of used linens because it is there that sometimes I can find “centrini”, that is, Italian doilies.
Many years ago, it was quite common for Italian women to crochet doilies. Obviously, they’d make them mainly at home but I have many memories of summer excursions to small villages where women would sit in groups outside their doorways and crochet together as they chatted.
Doilies were made to protect furniture and placed on dresser tops as well as on sofas and chairs. In Victorian England, doilies called antimacassar were made to safeguard armchair backs from the Macassar hair oil men of the times wore. So doilies were not only decorative, they were practical as well.
Then customs and tastes changed and doilies were no longer valued. That’s why they made it to the second hand markets. Luckily, in recent years, they’ve been re-evaluated and old doilies are being used in new ways such as being sewn together to make dresses, tablecloths, lampshades, etc.
Aside from their beauty, there is something else that intrigues me about them. Handwork, since it requires focused attention, is a form of meditation. Without a doubt, working with one’s hands changes brainwaves frequencies transforming the animated beta into a mild-mannered theta. So, at the market, when I look at the second hand doilies, it’s like looking at bottles of tranquillizers. I image a woman sitting in her living room crocheting. Maybe she’d had a busy day answering the needs of others by cooking and cleaning, or maybe she’d had an argument with her husband, or maybe she was concerned about one of her kids. But, whatever the source of anxiety, simply by crocheting a doily, she could, at least momentarily, have some tranquility. Instead of focusing her attention externally, she focused it internally.
Yūgen, a concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics, is an awareness that provokes emotions that can’t be described. It is a feeling that is subtle yet profound.
By buying and reusing these discarded doilies, I hope to magically appropriate some of the tranquility they’d produced for their makers. Thus seeing the handwork of these unknown women heaped together on a counter gives me a feeling of Yūgen.
The doilies pictured above are for a Muy Marcottage creation such as Xαιρομαι/Delight huipil.
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Coppedé, a magical neighborhood in Rome
Recently I made reference to the Coppedé neighborhood in Rome. It’s such a magical place that it’s worth writing about even though my fotos don’t do it justice. And if you’re in Rome and interested in architecture, it’s a MUST SEE.
The district, between Via Tagliamento and Corso Trieste, was designed by the Florentine architect, Gino Coppedé (1886-1927), Rome’s Mischievous Architect. It is mystical & magical thus often included in the Esoteric Tours of Rome. Known locally as Quartiere Coppedé, the architecture is a mixture of Assyrian Babylonian, Baroque, Tuscan medieval, Gothic, Art Nouveau and much more. Some decorative elements imitate scenes from the 1914 film “Cabiria”. Even spooky movie film director, Dario Argento, was so fascinated by Quartiere Coppedé that he used it as a location for two of his films, “Inferno” and “The Bird with Crystal Plumes”.
the entrance of the Coppedé neighborhood as seen from via Tagliamento
the arched entrance
wrought iron lamp hanging at the entrance
Gino Coppedé was born in Florence and, after studying Industrial Decorative Arts, he began working at his father’s studio. He also taught at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (where I also was lucky enough to teach one year) and the University of Pisa.
Coppedé designed many buildings in Italy but is probably best known for the Quartiere Coppedé. Built between 1915 and 1927, the district is composed of various buildings and villas. Apparently, Coppedé intended to give every building a unique and mysterious aura of its own influenced by esoteric sciences. So full of relief sculptures, affrescoes and inscriptions, not even a dictionary of symbolism can help one understand everything represented.
a view of the Villini delle Fate (Fairy Cottages)
For example, there’s the Spider Palace thus named because of a spider on a web that could symbolize The Great Mother and her weaving the destiny of man.
On another building there’s the representation of a chalice with dice that many have interpreted as the Sacred Graal.
Since Coppedé was from Florence, it may explain why he included representations of Dante and Petrarca as well as views of the city itself. But he also gives tribute to Venice because the neighborhood is full of lion’s heads jutting out from the wall and the lion is often associated with the lion of San Marco. Another affresco shows Rome’s famous she-wolf nursing Romolo and Remo.
corner relief sculpture
Piazza Mincio and its Frog Fountain
Frogs adorn the rim of the upper fountain; whereas, the lower fountain is composed of four huge shells held up by men on their knees who are spitting out water.
mosaics and eagles are abundant as well
the door framed with the words “OSPES SALVE” which roughly translates as “welcome”
Coppodé is not only rich in relief sculpture and affrescoes, but it’s also full of words and phrases written and sculpted on the walls (mainly in Latin).
notice the lions’ heads above the window columns
dancing cherubs
back part of the main entrance, Via Tagliamento
Coppedé died in Rome in 1927. Some say from gangrene of the lungs whereas others say he committed suicide.
relief sculpture in the style of Greek tragedy masks
one of the many Coppedé bees
Pope Urban VIII was Pope from 1623-1644. He came from the Florentine family Barberini. Their symbol was that of the bee. So, with the help of his favorite artist, Bernini, Urban took advantage of his power to have bees embellish the buildings of Rome.
lego street art at Coppedé
Legos have been used for some time now to create street art. And above is an example found at Coppedé! For more examples of lego street art, see Jan Wormann’s Dispatchwork
If you are in Rome and want to visit the area, you can get there with Tram 3 or 19 or bus 223, 86, 92. The stop is at Piazza Buenos Aires. And, depending upon what kind of shape you’re in, it’s within walking distance of Villa Ada and the Catacombs of St. Priscilla.
A nice day in “Quartiere Coppedè” video
A Mended Sidewalk
We live on the edge of the very magical Coppedè neighborhood (Rome). So, when walking down via Tagliamento, I’m always mesmerized by the buildings and focus on them. Until I get distracted by the mended curb. Damaged, it’s been repaired with sampietrini, the beveled stones of black basalt once used to pave the streets of Rome. The curb always gets my attention for two reasons: because it’s been repaired and because of the way it’s been repaired. It reminds me of outsider art because, even if it was unintentional, that’s what it is—art.
Last year I posed about The Aesthetics of Mending and have reposted it (see below) but would also recommend taking a look at the Repair Café movement as well as my Pinterest board on Mending and Repairing.
Mending is a philosophy. And a measurement of value. If something must be mended, it means it has been used, thus is useful. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to look at much of what we own as being something disposable. We show no affection for what we have and quite easily throw things away when they become obsolete or broken. Or simply no longer interesting to us. And it seems as if we’ve transfered this attitude towards people and our society as well.
Reparation is a form of beauty.
Mended Stockings by Dorothea Lange ,Photographer
Mended jumper and tom of holland
The Visible Mending Programme: making and re-making
Repairs at The Street of Gold
Even better would be to look at mending as a way of creating…
YOU MUST SEE THIS! Colourful Lamps Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles…In the Summer of 2011, industrial…
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Mercatino Usato, second hand market in Rome
with Frida at the Mercatino
This weekend, while taking a walk after A Heavy Duty lunch, we came across a second hand market near San Giovanni. It’s called Mercantino Usato Porta Maggiore and was full of EVERYTHING including books, furniture, clothing and collectibles!
In the past few years, “mercatini” have become very trendy here in Rome. Once, in Italy, buying something second hand made people feel uncomfortable because it seemed to indicate that one didn’t have enough money to buy the same item new thus something to be ashamed of. And Italians need to feel they can make a “bella figura“. But the economic crisis has changed all that.
Having an economic structure based on consumerism has excessively robbed the environment of natural resources. So there’s at least one thing good about people not having money in that there is now a willingness to recycle and reuse. With all of the stuff that already exists out there, why do we need to make even more?
So if you have any plans to come to Rome, why not check out one of their flea markets?
In the meantime, here are a few fotos of the Porta Maggiore Mercatino:
many “vintage” objects on display
alot of interesting furniture with interesting prices
many people looking for a bargain
used clothing–vintage and even some designer dresses
accessories (even some entertaining costume jewellery!)
garden furniture
cacti
plants and plant holders
in the foreground, an old saddle!
Mercatino di ROMA PORTA MAGGIORE is opened everyday from 9.30 until 20.00. Limited parking is available. It’s also easy to get to via tram. If you live in Rome and need to sell something, this place is worth a try.
The Mercatino is not far from the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Santa Croce in Gerusalemme) with, it’s said, relics of the cross. It’s also one of the seven pilgrimage churches. Go HERE for an interesting post about the church. And also within walking distance is San Giovanni in Laterano, a basilica dedicated to John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
And many thanks to Sir Joe Works for help with the fotos!
Posted in Living With Less, Rome/Italy
Tagged Mercantino Usato, Rome, second-hand market, walking in Rome
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The Narrative Within 