Finished Object Dance

Check this out from tonight's NOVA. The Cloisters in NY sent a tapestry out to the Metropolitan for cleaning/conservation while the space it hung in was being renovated. The Met took digital pictures of it for study, but when they tried to put them together the pictures didn't fit at the edges.

Turns out, what with going from vertical to horizontal (they laid it flat for photographing) and being cleaned for the first time in how long, the fibers that make up the tapestry were moving on their own, such that the photos taken in succession didn't line up with each other.

No wonder we all have trouble stories of blocking sweaters and lace. Okay. NOVA thinks this is a story about mathematics and a homebuilt supercomputer, but we know better.

Fabric IS willful.