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Tapestry weaved with the help of giant spiders.. It's a One of a kind

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:40 PM EDT
Read ArticleArticle Source: npr.org
Seeded by JoulesBeef
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This week in New York, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled something never before seen: an 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk.

Weavers in Madagascar took four years to make it, and the museum says there's no other like it in the world.

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British art historian creates world's largest cloth woven entirely from spider silk the Mail onlineMon Sep 280Comments
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{"commentId":9739879,"authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
JoulesBeef

crazy.. especially the guy carrying giant spiders.
I wonder how soft it s.

{"commentId":9739879,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"JoulesBeef"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:42 PM EDT
{"commentId":9870541,"authorDomain":"dcstone01"}
dcstone01

Well it did say it felt like cashmere, so it must be incredibly soft...but they also said the strong strands when they first started out sounded like 'guitar strings'...so they are very strong...

This group spent over half a million and four years on this project...

Simply amazing, and it is beautiful...

Clipped to Fibervine (where you can also find this related article by RedWolf) which also has a couple other pictures of the tapestry...

http://redwolf.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/22/3302755-gossamer-silk-from-spiders

Artsvine, Hobbies and Crafts, Odd News, and WTF groups...

It is not conicidental that the 'goddess of weavers is a spider...other goddess's through history/cultures'...

{"commentId":9870541,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"dcstone01"}
  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Sun Oct 4, 2009 2:18 PM EDT
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{"commentId":9740023,"authorDomain":"syntactictree"}
Syntactic Tree

Some very good points raised in the comments of the article:

I am no PETA zealot, but I do feel sorry for all those spiders.

Second, it seems as if the financial backers received much of the focus of the story while the weavers themselves were neglected.

Third, while it's a beautiful and inspiring project, on what other, more worthwhile causes could that half-million dollars have been spent?

{"commentId":9740023,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"syntactictree"}
  • 5 votes
Reply#2 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:54 PM EDT
{"commentId":9740399,"authorDomain":"JABurnham"}
Jason Burnham

It's their money and creating art can be expensive.

{"commentId":9740399,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"JABurnham"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#3 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:27 PM EDT
{"commentId":9740612,"authorDomain":"syntactictree"}
Syntactic Tree

I didn't say they couldn't spend it on whatever they wished. I said it's my opinion that the money could have been used better (for lack of a better word) on something else.

{"commentId":9740612,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"syntactictree"}
  • 2 votes
#3.1 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:48 PM EDT
Reply
{"commentId":9740535,"authorDomain":"lindaluke"}
Linda Luke

4 years and a million spiders, wow, great article, and I don't even like spiders

{"commentId":9740535,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"lindaluke"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#4 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:41 PM EDT
{"commentId":9741148,"authorDomain":"eric24"}
Simplistic Reality

Wow.

{"commentId":9741148,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"eric24"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#5 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 9:33 PM EDT
{"commentId":9741757,"authorDomain":"sgsteitler"}
jbird

The term giant is relative in the spider world. I was expecting to click and be staring face to face with a Goliath bird eater. They have a version of these in Florida. Oops!

{"commentId":9741757,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"sgsteitler"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#6 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 10:19 PM EDT
{"commentId":9754635,"authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
ruthlessmoose

I know... and they freak me the *&#$ out! lol

{"commentId":9754635,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
  • 5 votes
#6.1 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:54 PM EDT
Reply
{"commentId":9742658,"authorDomain":"gasyusblast"}
gasyusblast

Absolutely wonderful, I love the fact that nature Inspires our thinking to create something like bungee jumping from spiders or the silk form worms....truly amazing.

{"commentId":9742658,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"gasyusblast"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#7 - Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:38 PM EDT
{"commentId":9743102,"authorDomain":"jimmyjamm93442"}
Jim420

seems to me one of these guys name should be " PETER PARKER... but that's just my spider sense of humor

{"commentId":9743102,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"jimmyjamm93442"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#8 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:23 AM EDT
{"commentId":9754673,"authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
ruthlessmoose

spider sense!

wakka wakka!

{"commentId":9754673,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
  • 1 vote
#8.1 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:56 PM EDT
Reply
{"commentId":9743518,"authorDomain":"piletre"}
Piletre

wow.. I would LOVE to see and touch that tapestry!

{"commentId":9743518,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"piletre"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#9 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:10 AM EDT
{"commentId":9752984,"authorDomain":"Pvt-Public"}
Pvt-Public

I know this is petty but I have to point it out. The 1st sentence of the article:

This week in New York, the American Museum of Natural History unveiled something never before seen: an 11-by-4-foot tapestry made completely of spider silk.

Then only 6 sentences later:

The only known spider silk tapestry was shown in Paris in 1900 but then disappeared.

2 problems,

  1. A spider silk tapestry has been seen before, Paris 1900.
  2. If there is 1 in New York how can the one that disappeared from Paris in 1900 be the only known one.

Besides that I think it is cool, but agree that these guys could have put the $500,000 to a better use. But, hey, it was their money to do as they please with, and they did just that. I would like to see how they "silked" the spiders!

Joules they say it's soft as cashmere, I'll bet it feels "smooth as silk"

{"commentId":9752984,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"Pvt-Public"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#10 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:35 PM EDT
{"commentId":9755098,"authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
ruthlessmoose

everybody's gotta have a hobby right?

{"commentId":9755098,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"ruthlessmoose"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#11 - Mon Sep 28, 2009 4:16 PM EDT
{"commentId":9764588,"authorDomain":"hampton"}
larrrs

A very beautiful piece and a rather warm glow in the color...

The first panel that we wove, we were quite stunned by the fact that it sounded a bit like guitar strings, pinging like metallic guitar strings. I mean, it is a very, very unusual material."

...How cool!

{"commentId":9764588,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"hampton"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#12 - Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:55 AM EDT
{"commentId":9776936,"authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
Al 616

Talk about slave labor.

{"commentId":9776936,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#13 - Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:30 PM EDT
{"commentId":9871847,"authorDomain":"blayde"}
Blayde

Evidently these spiders create gold colored silk, which is also rare. I heard this story on NPR the other day very interesting, thanks for the post, I liked the picture, it adds greatly to the story.

{"commentId":9871847,"threadId":"687342","contentId":"3323548","authorDomain":"blayde"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#14 - Sun Oct 4, 2009 4:15 PM EDT
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