Etymology: In 1987, in the quiet after-hours at Frank Gehry’s furniture shop, a janitor named Andrew Kromelow invented what has become one of the most ubiquitous aesthetics on Instagram today. As Kromelow cleaned Gehry’s shop, he would gather stray tools and experiment with arranging them in a grid-like pattern. He called the practice “knolling, ” after the hard angles of Knoll furniture, a popular brand that Gehry was designing for at the time. Today, knolling more often refers to the This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Three Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 42 Word: Hyperobject A word for things too huge to name. Arts & Culture Word: Negentropy A physicist’s fix for a messy home. Arts & Culture Issue 40 My Word In praise of cursing. Arts & Culture Issue 39 Word: Umarell The men who stare at construction sites. Arts & Culture Issue 38 Word: Hauntology The study of cultural ghosts. Arts & Culture Issue 37 Word: Hot Mess From humble grub to humblebrag.
