Tim Ingold · 2007 · PDF · Calibre ID 10557
Resurfaced in The Ruled Thread (2026-10-21).
Role in the triad
The hinge: inherits Leroi-Gourhan’s linearization thesis, names its paradox, and traces the ruled line back to the warp-thread of the loom.
Why this book
Explicit genealogy from Leroi-Gourhan (ch. 5) plus the material history (masara, ruler as sovereign, no drawn line perfectly straight) that reaches Martin’s studio. Printed page = PDF page − 13.
Quotations
Verified against the book’s own text on the day of the reading.
- “Fully linearized, the line is no longer the trace of a gesture but a chain of point-to-point connections. In these connections there is neither life nor movement. Linearization, in short, marks not the birth but the death of the line.” (ch. 5, p. 151) | “For Semper the prototypical line was a thread; for Riegl it was a trace” (ch. 2, p. 42) | “more like a series of appointments than a walk” (Klee, quoted ch. 3, p. 73) | “the straight lines of the ruled manuscript, which guided the writer’s hand in weaving the letter-line, can be traced back to the parallel warp-threads of the loom. The threads were straight because they were taut.” (ch. 6, p. 157) | “A ruler is a sovereign who controls and governs a territory. It is also an instrument for drawing straight lines.” (p. 160) | “Only when the architect ceased to be a master-builder and retreated to the drawingboard were templates replaced by the ruler, and taut threads by the ruled traces of the diagram.” (p. 161) | “so no line that is ever drawn – even with a ruler – can ever be perfectly straight. An element of risk is always involved.” (p. 162)
Themes
ghostly line · Klee · line · linearization · loom · masara · Pye · Riegl · ruled line · ruler · Ruskin · Semper · thread · trace · warp · wayfaring