Dublin Ireland based artist David Thomas Smith has a new exhibition titled, “Anthropocene,” and it is the toast of the Internet. By meticulously stitching together thousands of thumbnail-sized images of global hubs of commerce taken from Google Maps, Mr. Smith has created a series of stunning images, the patterns of which resemble those of antique Persian rugs.

We posted a while ago about the Pazyryk Carpet, better known as the oldest “living” carpet in the world. It is humbling to contemplate this still colorful artifact, especially as this week has brought more than a few stories of hacking. One technology journalist’s electronic devices – an I-phone, I-pad and MacBook- were remotely accessed and wiped clean, along with his cloud-stored data. The Australian government’s web presence was briefly crippled by the hacking group Anonymous. And on a personal note, I dropped my phone, and with it photos from Spain, weddings, and family off of a balcony. All of this is to say, in the digital age, there is a certain inherent ephemerality that is in stark contrast to the timeless antique woven works that we display, buy and sell here at Nazmiyal.