The Looming Loom

Conan O'Brien needs a fan Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcocoa.com. slash call Conan. Okay, let's get started, hello.

Oh my god. Oh hello Julia. how are you?

Hi, this is crazy, I'm freaking out a little bit.

No, I think we're the ones experiencing the craziness because we can see you for anyone listening. Right now. We have a screen and we can see what's behind you and are those looms behind you? There's a massive, massive wooden loom behind you that looks like it could be 800 years old.

It's literally looming.

Yeah, it's looming. thank you. I think that's where looming comes from. I appreciate that it must be.

Hello.

Where are you coming from?

My name is Julia, I'm calling from Ithaca, New York, which is kind of random. I moved here from L.A. And I have this studio. And I actually have two looms behind me, so it's two big looms that are looming right now.

Okay, it's funny because I know so little about looms that it just looks like one giant loom. I can't see where one loom starts and the other one begins, but it's very impressive and very cool looking.

Thank you, yeah. I'm a little obsessive about weaving, I love weaving, which is kind of insane. It's a lot of equipment, though, that you need on this level.

Okay, let me ask you a couple of questions quickly. So you use the loom, what would you call yourself? You wouldn't say I'm a weaver?

I would say I'm a weaver.

Okay, all right, I didn't know if you preferred textile technician. I just don't know what terms you prefer, and I want to use the term you prefer.

Yeah, I think weaver is a good term, I would introduce myself as Hello, I'm a weaver. I think a textile technician is more so because I'm also a textile engineer in my day to day normal life, and the technicians are the ones that operate kind of big machines.

You do that as well, but this is more of you in your hobby phase, would you say. Because you've got this giant loom behind you that looks very old school. You're wearing a very beautiful, colorful scarf, I believe, or a blanket or a poncho.

Yeah, I did. Thank you. Yeah, it's a blanket, it's my cozy blanket.

Thing well, I think when you describe yourself as obsessed, that is the key to being really good at something.

I would hope so.

Yeah, so the fact that you're obsessed with weaving probably means you are pretty good at it. And I don't even know, I don't even. I can't even begin to know what goes into setting up a loom because they look impossibly complicated. The loom behind you, just the idea that you would know how to put the different you use yarn. Is that correct?

That's the most fun part, that part is what gets my brain, just like, so happy. But what's really cool about weaving is that weaving is actually the origin of modern computing, what it is.

You can watch pornography on a loom. Oh, geez, well, I'm sorry.

So you in what you're talking about, how the threads interlock with each other, you either are lifting the thread or lowering the thread. One or zero, so it's binary. Yeah, the punch card system was invented by a weaver. Actually have, I didn't know that thing right. There is is essentially a punch card.

That's, I mean, I, I did not know that, and it makes perfect sense. It's binary, it's a, it's it's this or that. And then you need a menu, you need something to tell you what the sequence is, and you work off of that.

Yeah, it's so cool, I'm like, I'm just so obsessed with it. I've been really focused because I'm also. I have a solo show opening in a week from now, so I've just been in here every day.

Is it going to be in Ithaca?

You're welcome to come, it is going to be in Ithaca, yeah.

If we get in a car and start now, yeah.

Oh, we're going to drive seven days, the three of us.

Seven days. What are you talking? No, it's not, that's not seven days.

When I drove from L.A. to Ithaca, it took seven days.

I've done coast to coast in three.

No.

What, I didn't sleep.

I was by myself.

I was, I was like, 20 something, I was insane, that's crazy. I was a crazy person and I talked to myself the whole time.

You were by yourself.

I was by myself, Oh my God, yeah. And there were some crimes committed along the route which have never been solved.

It's still not. I drove slow, Oh.

Okay, might've been, might've been five.

You guys are all being too conciliatory here, just stick to your original stories.

I know.

I know we're losing the drama.

Okay, I did it in two days, okay, that's better, that's better.

You know, you got my number?

You bet I do, as played by Smokey, of course, played by Jackie Gleason. Anyway, Julia, I'm taking you down a bad road and I apologize. You have a show coming up. Is it a competition?

You think is there competitive looming?

I bet there is.

Well, actually, yeah, there is. I wouldn't say my show is competitive, my show is like an art show. I went to art school for weaving, so I've been doing that, but there are competitive weaving, actually.

Does anyone ever win really quickly? But then they realize that the sheep is pretty much just wrapped around the person's neck. They didn't fully shear it, they kind of half sheared it, and then they're like, meh, meh, shh, quiet, quiet. We almost won.

Is there juicing in looming competitions?

Yeah, can you juice? can you inject yourself with something that makes you operate the loom so much faster? yeah.

I don't know do they drug test it? That's a good question.

Do they drug test in looming competitions?

Uh, I can't answer that question, but I would imagine that.

Oh, someone sounds pretty guilty. Well, well, well, I hope not. She's thinking, yeah.

I mean, well, here's the thing. My loom, actually, the one in the back has a computer attached to it, so my loom actually is faster than that of the normal weaver.

Where and when is this sheep to shawl thing? We gotta go, I wanna go.

And bye, bye, we gotta go, I don't think we're going, but when is it? When is the sheep to shawl?

Well, I actually think there are several around the country, but the biggest sheep and wool festival is in Rhinebeck, New York.

I know Rhinebeck, they have an air show in Hudsonville, they have an air show there.

Well, they also have the Sheep and Wool festival there, hey.

Is this ever aired on like ESPN 18?

ESPN I don't know. ESPN 77..

It'd be cool if it did, maybe PBS, yes.

So.

Honestly.

Let's not be mean now, or CNN.

Oh my God, yeah.

Right, look at her eyes, I know she clearly has.

East Little Easter Egg.

So you can put little things in there. Because I would think, if basically what you're making is the result of a program, this binary program. So using different colors, you can probably put subliminal messages into the scarves that you make.

Yeah, well, I don't make scarves, but yeah.

You could, Okay, all right. So is the subliminal message you put in there. Scarves suck.

This is not a scarf.

This is not a scarf.

Okay, well, I've, yes, I've made one scarf, but you can actually. I mean, I was actually thinking about that the other day of, like, how could I take a coded message and somehow, like, translate it through the code of my loom and make something with it?

I would love definitely possible, yeah, something that maybe promoted our podcast subliminally.

No, no.

That's a good idea.

Yeah.

And then, look, these things last forever, these things get passed on from generation to right. I mean, theoretically, this could be around hundreds of years from now. When someone finds it. And for some reason, they're just like, I really need to check out this. You know, Conan O'Brien needs a fan, and it's just because they've inherited this sweater.

I could try, I'd be down for the challenge.

There's so many better things. I need you to calm down, You're way too giddy, you're way too pumped up.

Loomers are fucking crazy.

These guys.

They are, dude, it's a badass world. all the weavers I know are pretty badass.

Do you ever talk shit about other weavers?

Well, I mean, I try to be a good person.

I know, I know.

Weave it into the code of your scarf.

Is it a small community? Is this weaving community small? Do you guys all know each other? I would say it's larger than people think it is. there are a lot more weavers out there than you think.

Can I say something? Yeah, you make it sound like we're out there. Anyone you know could be Eduardo's over there. He has a little loom underneath the table and he's looming.

Actually, there is double weave. Yes, no, that's not what you said. you said double drop. She's trying to make you feel better about yourself.

One word that's commonly used in any industry.

I see you're right.

I wonder if there's those weavers who walk into a room and people are like, Oh, shit.

Yeah.

That guy's here.

Who is the shit in your energy and in your industry? And Julia, it might be you, right?

And be honest, be honest.

Okay, you can say.

Okay, so I did go to the Digital Weaving Conference last year and there are some weavers that walked in. And I was like, Holy shit, that's crazy, like they're here.

But then there are other weavers, that's mortimer chillings.

I would say I'm working towards that status, I think you're getting there, I'm really trying.

I think you're getting there fast, and actually, I think this interview is going to give you a little nudge, yeah.

Do you have, like, a big social media presence with your weaving and stuff?

I'm trying.

It's a u-l-i-a-k-w, it's my Instagram. But I mean, I'm really just trying to like, yeah, I think that when it comes to the competitive part, I am pretty competitive.

So you want the best weaver, let's say the Oppenheimer of weavers.

This Mortimer guy you're talking about?

Mortimer Chillings Yeah, you want him, you want to make something where Mortimer or mort to his fans, Mort Chillings comes in. And you've made it and he picks it up and he's like, What?

Impossible, but how?

I don't see that.

Yeah, I kind of do. It's like a little embarrassing because I want to support people weaving, but then I also want to be like, four harness, okay, and be the best at the same time.

JuLIa There is nothing wrong with a burning ambition. To be the very best at what you do and to blow people away and be it. There's nothing wrong with that. That is the fuel.

It should ruin all your relationships and leave a scorched earth policy, yes.

I'm a very lonely man in many ways, but I wouldn't change a thing because when it comes to dancing, like, I have invisible strings on my hips. In a monologue, I'm the King.

King of the World boss.

You did it.

Best there ever was boss.

Yeah, the goat of acting stupid. Hey Julia, you said that you also, so this is just your. What's your day job?

So.

I don't really know, you know, what I got thrown by. As I was asking this question. The red light went on, and I was like, Oh, I'm asking a question.

I appreciate your honesty, it's nice to see the human side of you.

Well, or, if you're from upstate New York, human. Why, Julia? There are other applications for your weaving that I'm told that you use, yeah, in the scientific community.

Yes, so I am a textile engineer for biomedical implantable textile devices.

I don't even know what that is.

My god.

Like?

A sweater over your heart?

You are human, I am human, yeah.

But like, actually, though, like stents, heart valves, bone tethers, meshes, all of that, there's all sorts of like, there's a heart valve. That, like knitted fabric, actually helps kind of accept cells that need to, like, stabilize the medical device in your body, yeah.

So my question is, what are you using? You're obviously not using yarn that's not going to go very well in there, but what can you use that the body won't reject?

We do use yarn, it's just different yarn. It's not like wool or cotton. It's a lot of times it's polyester, actually.

See, polyester is back. It's cool, it doesn't wrinkle. I like it when my heart valve doesn't wrinkle, yeah.

Straight out of the dryer.

Yeah, I can, and stains just brush off, oh my God, I like when my stents just is easily cleaned.

We got your Instagram handle.

Do you want to say it one more time? yeah.

Say it one more time so people listening can check it out.

Thank you all. My Instagram handle is at U-l-i-A-K-W.

Very cool, I'm going to check out your stuff. There's probably a lot of photographs there of things. And do you ever sell stuff?

I do, yeah, most of the stuff in my show is going to be for sale.

Well, you're about to get the Conan bump.

Yeah, Conan bump, Yeah, and I'm going to buy a bone tether from you. I want a hard sweater.

Well, maybe one day, yeah, you'll need it, and then you'll know what you need.

All right, let's not be so giddy about it. Julia man, Julia lit up, Hey, you're going to need one pretty soon, old man.

There's that competitive spirit.

There it is. Oh, you don't think you're going to need one soon? You look like a guy that's going to have a massive hemorrhage soon. If anyone's brain is going to blow, it's me. So, yeah, I need a tight knit weave around my skull just to keep it all intact.

Thanks, yeah, it's a little weird. I went to art school, I did not study engineering, so that's all right.

None of us take necessarily a logical path. I sure didn't, but we figured it out eventually, and eventually I will figure it out. Julia, thank you so much and take care of yourself and good luck at your show.

Thank you, yeah, thanks.

Bye.

Bye, bye.

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