Knolling – an Art Technique for Clutter Monkeys
Hello,
I came across the term knolling this week and couldn’t resist including it here because it was new to me. I mentioned it in passing for my youngest, who is studying design at university, and she laughed at my ignorance of the term, saying that her tutors love it.
You might think, like I did, that knolling was something to do with a famous grassy knoll and a shooting, but no, it’s much more peaceful. It’s the process of arranging objects so they are parallel or at 90 degrees. When photographed this creates a clean, restful image of a collection.
The author Emma Mitchell, whose books and art I enjoy, deploys knolling of items from nature to support well-being. You’ll find her on Twitter and Insta. I decided to have a go myself and my first effort – items from my craft table – is below. I’m not sure it calmed my mind but it was fun to try. As somebody who often has boxes and jars full of oddments from the various crafts I enjoy and from beach-combing, I think knolling could become something I do more often. It’s perfect for clutter monkeys like me.
Despite being an established term in the art and design world, knolling isn’t in the mainstream dictionaries. However knolling.org came to my rescue with the complete tale of how the term came to be used. It was coined by Andrew Kromelow in the late 1980s and popularised by artist Tom Sachs. Kromelow was a janitor in Frank Gehry’s Santa Monica studio and enjoyed organising the tools there when they were left in a mess.
Tom became intrigued by this technique and began to include it in his artwork. The technique is widely used both to create an efficient workspace and for visual displays.
As for knoll, we gathered this into the English language as cnoll in Old English to describe a small hill or clod. It’s related to knollr (hilltop) in Old Norse and knolle (clod) in German. Knolling is only listed as an archaic verb for ringing a bell solemnly – the past tense of knell.
Until next time happy reading, writing, knolling, and wordfooling,
Grace (@Wordfoolery)
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