Sensoryethnography

Forest Walking

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Tactile Analytics

Touching as a Collective Act

Playing with the small, knitted swatch of alpaca wool in my hand, I lost

track of time. The small piece of textile had become a riddle for me. The

swatch was made up of rice stitches overlaid with a large diamond shape

that formed a braided design. I kept feeling the weave, the tautness of each

knot, rubbing my fingers

back and forth. But at first my touch was blind

to the culture and craft of the artisan’s work. It would take me months to

learn to feel the material qualities of alpaca wool, to appreciate the knowledge

conveyed through touch. The knitted surface was as important

as

the design; it interlaced sociocultural negotiations, histories, and layers of

meaning (Alvarez Astacio 2015). To appreciate the density of this surface,

I had to learn a different

form of touch that could recognize the ontological

complexity of this material surface. At the very least, I need to recognize

the gap between my own conditioned tactility and that which is materialized

in alpaca textiles.

Within the fashion industry, alpaca wool is considered a luxury material;

it is softer, lighter, and stronger than cashmere or sheep wool. Alpaca

wool garments and accessories are especially valued for their ability to

trigger imaginaries of pristine Andean indigenous communities. They

are marketed as eco-friendly,

long-lasting,

and resistant to stains, odors,

flames, and wrinkles. Alpaca wool is indeed a high-quality

material, valued

by twenty-first-

century

consumers and contemporary

indigenous artisans

in the highlands, but for different

reasons.