Gij, Wildeman is a small, woven work in an edition of 35. It has two different sides: the front shows an emblem-like image, inspired by late 16th, early 17th century alchemic illustrations. On the other side, this image is mirrored in colors that are not used in the front – which is relatively normal in weaving because the image is the carrier. Not normal is the added text: this is a technical trick, developed by Marjan van Oeffelt of Textiellab (Textielmuseum, Tilburgh, the Netherlands).
The phrase is selected by Belgian writer Jeroen Olyslaegers from his novel-in-progress Wildevrouw (planned for publication in December 2020).
Apparently, both sides work wildly as an animated gif. More examples below.
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.theappealoftheunreal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GijWildeman-editieaGIF3slow.gif)
![](https://usercontent.one/wp/www.theappealoftheunreal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GijWildeman-editieaGIF2.gif)
I’m interested in working with the tapestry medium more often, as a way to perpetuate my work without the use for an electrical plug. For future projects, I would want to investigate the possibilities of making an animated tapestry – a tapestry that, for instance, changes its appearance under the influence of light (glow-in-the-dark yarn will do the trick), or while walking past it.