windy chien knots rope into circuit board for palo alto coffee shop

artist windy chien has been commissioned by verve coffee to adorn its new location in palo alto, california, with one of her iconic knotted pieces. she created a ‘circuit board’ for the coffee shop’s tech-hub location as a decorative wall element.

all images courtesy of windy chien

chien‘s signature ‘circuit board’ pieces are completely improvised within a set of rules. each curve travels freely across the purposeful verticals that give the piece structure. about her process, the artist says, ‘I begin each work with no preconceived composition nor preliminary sketches. guided largely by intuition, I nevertheless work within precise parameters. in this sense, the circuit boards’ subject can be understood as being about the process of their creation.‘

the artist’s approach to her art matches the coffee shop’s view of their beverages. highlighting craft, ritual and passion, both the artist and the coffeemakers bring two passions together, resulting in the commissioned work. the rustic aesthetic of the hanging piece adds a natural feel to the coffee place, linking it with the drink’s earthy taste and smell. 

the piece is made of cotton and polypropylene rope hanging from a walnut board. the trim is made with leather, a refined accent on the rope’s ends. covering an entire wall of the coffee shop, the circuit board welcomes palo alto’s tech-savvy entrepreneurs as well as locals looking for a cozy ambiance. 

‘I believe it is the responsibility of artists to modernize traditional crafts and forms, in this case, macrame. the circuit boards are inspired by electronics parts, massimo vignelli’s new york city subway map, and diana vreeland’s maxim that ‘the eye has to travel.”

chien will also be launching her first book in september 2019 with abrams books titled, ‘the year of the knots’. the book not only shares her personal journey of learning one knot per day for the entirety of 2016, but also contains 25 intricate, step-by-step knot and project tutorials.