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ORDER & CHAOS

The Colours of Politics

This delicate knitwork represents the parliaments of the 28 member states of the European Union in alphabetical order of their country codes (status: January 2018).

The number of member states defines the height of the knitwork (28 member states = 28 stitches). Each stitch of the knitwork corresponds to one seat, each colour to one parliamentary group. Within the national parliaments, the parliamentary groups are arranged according to the seating in the respective parliaments.

The loose ends of yarn get entangled and develop their own lives while creating a random array of colours and lines. What at first is just a by-product of the knitting process becomes the most important component of the work. The unorganised ends clash with the organised work, thus creating a tension between order and chaos.

(Knitted mohair wool, 15 x 100 cm, 2018)

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2025–2026

  • Woolgathering
  • Globality of Green
  • Unscreamed Screams
  • Nothing Is As It Seems

2023–2024

  • Pic en vue
  • En voir de toutes les couleurs
  • Nuances des départs
  • Ancestral Hues

2020–2022

  • Au fil du temps
  • Mesh of Life
  • Knitted Time
  • The Days of My Life

2017–2019

  • The Pattern of Language
  • Europeans
  • Order & Chaos
  • Democratic Stipes
  • Pixel Parliaments

1999–2000

  • Spoken Colours
  • 72 Primary Colours
© 2026 Ruth Thomas. All rights reserved.