Last Friday, I went with a friend to The Menil Collection here in Houston, a rather large contemporary art gallery built and curated through the extensive collection of the de Menil family. One of my favorite exhibits currently on is Apparitions: Rubbings and Frottages from 1860 to Now. Frottage is the French word for rubbing, which I absolutely had to Google when I got home. I was too busy ooh-ing and ahh-ing through the exhibit to worry much about the details. Now I need to go back and take more mental pictures of all the incredible rubbings (no photography allowed or I’d be sharing millions!).
I was looking up frottage materials online so I can soon make one of my own, when I happened upon this little Etsy shop full of rubbings from Dublin! They’re rubbings of the street roundels (had to look that word up too!), the metal grates we spend 99% of our time walking over without noticing. These rubbings are such a fun way of documenting the beautiful little details of the city.
Every once in a while, I have noticed those little roundels on the street and I have a whole bunch of photos of them. I’m on the lookout for equally intricate details in our neighborhood to make my own frottage for our walls. When I do, I’ll have another little DIY to share with you. In the meantime, you could just order your own from Etsy!
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