This photo from Peñíscola (Spain) makes me wonder what kind of object a fishing net is. Is it an object at all? How could we define its formal qualities? An object that is a surface -a very specific type of permeable surface- is certainly worth reflecting upon. An object that is light and invisible to fish, and is functionally flawless, is certainly worth examining. Is a fishing net really an example of great, anonymous, timeless design? I am still surprised at the delicate relationship of proximity that fishing nets have with their users and/or owners. Shortly after I took this photo, a couple of women in indigo aprons brought their stools by and began mending the nets, a slow process that I am sure ended up taking the best part of their day. I stayed around to see the beginning of that process and I was deeply taken by its timelessness: seeing these women at work assured me that it did not matter to them how long they had to be mending those nets, as long as the job was done properly. Patience as a design force was the lesson I took home that day. I am aware that the fishing net might very well be one of the oldest objects ever used by humans and, yet, seeing those women treating their nets with such love and care seemed to me an exceptionally intense and contemporary way of interacting with objects, one I had rarely seen before.
