Lines that don't fit
Crash Ensemble
March 2025
In Lines: A Brief History, anthropologist Tim Ingold explores the concept of "lines" as a framework to understand human experience and cultural expression, viewing lines not just as physical or artistic elements but as essential features of how people move through, perceive, and relate to the world. Ingold argues that lines are fundamental to human life, appearing in literal forms like drawn lines, trails, or paths, but also embodying processes central to experience, such as walking, storytelling, and thinking. Lines, he suggests, represent both physical paths and metaphorical connections, linking individuals, places, and times. He introduces two primary types of lines: "threads," continuous and flexible lines that emerge from movement (such as yarn or walking paths), and "traces," which are fixed and stable (like drawings or maps). This distinction allows Ingold to explore how lines can be either ephemeral or lasting, embodying different cultural and temporal significances. He examines how various societies have utilized lines differently throughout history, comparing the linear representations of ancient cultures with modern, line-centered thinking, and showing how lines in art, writing, and architecture serve to map, mark, and connect our understanding of the world. Ingold also connects lines to individual life paths, suggesting that, as in a "life line," our identities are woven from threads of experience, choices, and relationships that link us to others through shared paths and collective journeys.
Tim Ingold’s concept of "lines that don't fit" refers to lines that resist easy categorization within conventional systems of order or structure. These lines deviate from standard paths or boundaries and represent elements of life, movement, or experience that refuse to be confined within predefined limits. Examples might include stray paths that diverge from a main route, lines of thought that disrupt linear reasoning, or marks that break out of the expected patterns in art or design. Ingold argues that such lines reveal a more dynamic, fluid understanding of life, where not all paths are predictable or controllable.
They embody spontaneity, divergence, and the irregularities inherent in human experience. By acknowledging these "non-fitting" lines, Ingold highlights the importance of flexibility and the necessity of accommodating complexity in understanding human lives
and cultural expressions.