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02/04/2008: "The Joys and Ploys of Contemporary Knitting"
The age old craft of knitting has recently begun to make a come back, but not in the same form or with the same purposes that we are all familiar with. Gone are the days of tea cosies, boring scarves and hideous jumpers that just oozed functionality and practicality, a new age of knitting has dawned. What was once considered an old-fashioned way to pass the time has now become a fashionable and trendy artistic medium as well as a new form of social activity.
Even some of the Hollywood a-list have begun clicking the needles with Kate Moss, Julie Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Madonna, Russell Crowe and Geri Halliwell having all discovered the joys of knitting which is sure to raise the profile of the craft even more.
There are so many weird and wonderful things going on in the the most intriguing of which are the practices of a group of artists that have been given the term "guerilla knitters". Now before you start imagining knitted camo wearing soldiers jumping out of Apache helicopters attached to a stealth length of yarn packing rocket propelled knitting needle launches, "guerilla knitters" are basically the graffiti artists of the textile world. Nothing is safe from the wool warriors and needle ninjas who practice their moves under the cover of darkness giving everything from bike racks to trees to public sculptures the knitters touch. One of the great things about knitted graffiti is that it does everything that painted graffiti does except for damage other people's property, genius!!
With so many colours and types of yarn available, an endless number of ways it can be used and a
contemporary art culture that embraces the unusual and unique, it is not surprising that artist's have begun using the humble yarn to express themselves. As well as giving artists something new to experiment with knitting has also, strangely enough, given rise to a whole new form of political activism that centres around the use of the activity of knitting as a form of expression. According to the glittyknittykitty website (http://www.glittyknittykitty.co.uk) Knittivism is:
n 1 a doctrine emphasising vigorous or militant knitting activity, e.g. the use of knitting in mass demonstrations, urban interventions, in controversial, unusual or challenging ways, esp political, causes. 2 the systematic use of knitting for political ends. knittivist n and adj
Although the objects being created by knitters are absolutely fantastic there is more to knitting than the finished product. The process of creating such a work of art is as integral to the work as the end product because it is the actual process of creation that gives each work a history and a soul. Each stitch represents a moment in time which could correspond with any number of different events, thoughts, feelings and emotions thus making each knitted piece an emotionally and spiritually loaded object.
So much of the art being produced these days is bland, clinical and just plain boring which prevents people from connecting with and interacting with the artist and their work. The materials used in knitting are tactile, textural and raw which makes knitted works all the more appealing, characterful and evocative, the opposite of the bland, clinical and boring works being produced. Instead of being detached from the viewer, most knitted works of art invite and allow the viewer to experience, interact and connect with each work.
I just love the whole concept of knitting both as an artform and as a leisure activity and have no doubt that this addictive activity will continue to gain momentum so you had all better get knitting now so you don't get left behind. Trust me, you'll love it.
For more information on knitting check out:
http://www.craftster.org
http://www.castoff.info
http://www.fiberarts.com/
http://www.ravelry.com
Replies: 21 Comments
on Wednesday, February 13th, Emily said
I very much enjoyed knitting blog. Knitting like so many other 'crafts' can be turned into fine art. I will said that the other persons about this craft.
on Monday, February 11th, Mark said
Nicholas, AAHHHH! The same is about art!
on Sunday, February 10th, Nicholas Forrest said
The same could be said for art
on Friday, February 8th, Mark said
When it comes to sailing it is the act of sailing not the destination that counts.
on Friday, February 8th, marjan said
To Nick Forrester
You mean a recycled eco-ethical-thermo-dynamic woolly public art sculpture to sail with?
I suppose the flying flag would be the label.;)
on Thursday, February 7th, Nicholas Forrest said
Mark, I am sure someone could knit you a sale. All those holes might be a little bit of a problem though unless you have a lot of time to get where ever you want to go!!
on Thursday, February 7th, Mark said
Still a nice town. Did a juried paint-out there last year, mostly as an excuse to be on the boat.
on Thursday, February 7th, walt said
Mark, I was in a show in Havre de Grace once quite some time back. Lovely little town near the top of the Bay. My oldest son Daniel and I took a long drive afterwards on the Eastern shore. After hearing about it all my life it was the first time I'd ever been there.
on Thursday, February 7th, Mark said
Woder if someone could knitt me a sail? HHMMMMMM
on Thursday, February 7th, Mark said
AHHH, the Chesapeake, we keep a small 19' pocket cruiser at Havre de Grace, MD. Love getting on that small sailboat, be better if we could get those wave makeres to slow down. Nothing better then Chesapeake blue crab. But the bay is suffering, not at all clean, getting worse, don't listen to the propaganda, one even needs to be careful if you swim in it, such a horrible shame. Still tho a beautiful place to sail and a great place to get energised, can harly wait for some warmer weather.
on Wednesday, February 6th, Walt said
Are they really? I haven't been keeping up. Too much time on this site I suppose. Well and then I'm regionally challenged out here in Ohio. Few beaches to speak of. Painting and sculpture and any tradtional art forms have become so boring. They are all dead you know. Now all artists should trade in their brushes and chisels to become performance artists (they used to call it theater when it was acceptible to separate the forms for the sake of clarity), knitters, word artists (used to be called poetry and/or typography) and sand castlers. Hey I know where we can get some cute plastic shovels and pails...rev up your woody and polish up your boards cause we're going to the beach!
I love the ocean. I was born near the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore Maryland. When I moved to land locked Oklahoma at around 6 I often lay awake on those hot sultry nights with my window open listening to the big rigs driving past on the highway a mile from my house. If I closed my eyes sometimes I could mistake the sound of those distant trucks as they passed in slow succession for the sound of breakers washing over my senses If I let my imagination take me I could even smell salt in the air. Then the sprinklers would turn on and it was really the smell of chemical fertilizers on the newly plugged bermuda grass down the street.
I remember learning that people eat crayfish down south. Oklahoma creeks were teaming with crayfish (we called them crawdads) and I was soon catching as many of the biggest ones I could find, learned to boil them and they soon replaced the traditional Maryland blue crabs for me. I had no idea how polluted those creeks really were until later.
I even remember a drive through the area called the Flint Hills in Kansas on a really hot humid day. The tall grass on the hills blown by the wind reminded me of large waves, the grass constantly in motion allowed for the sense of turbulence. And towards the horizen in the distance the occasional farm house, or barn and silo could be big ships. It was hypnotic. Oh yeah...didn't they once call covered wagons 'prairie schooners'?
We took a trip to San Diego once when I was ten. After hours of driving through several deserts we finally hit the San Bernadino mountains and the high plains and then as we were coming down through the city of Dan Diego my father pointed and said "hey kids...there's the Pacific Ocean!" I looked and looked and all I could see was another desert. A flat brown plain that stretched to the western horizen was all I could see through the smog.
Its funny how the mind can play tricks on you.
on Tuesday, February 5th, Ellen said
I very much enjoyed knitting, quilting, sewing, refinishing furniture, etc. when I was younger & had lots of time available to me: ie my whole life lay ahead. Now, I have less leisure time for creative crafts. I'd rather turn my time & energies to my own artistic projects. However, there is much to be said of any creative endeavor. Whatever gives one satisfaction/pleasure. Are not the "critics" hyping sand sculptures washed away in the tides?
on Tuesday, February 5th, walt said
Nope, not quite barbie season. We're still supposedly in the dead of winter here. Although I have to say it's supposed to hit the mid 60's instead of the more usual mid teens and it feels a bit like early spring rains-- avec non fleurs...who says global warming doesn't exist.
Do have to report one of my Canadian students was caught knitting in my classroom yesterday instead of working on her course work. Tsk, tsk...rebel artists...always pushing the limits.
on Tuesday, February 5th, marjan said
Walt! BBQ season already? We've got daffodils sprouting all over the place already. Creative soil, must be art. (Wink) Walt, "do you want to elaborate on that and get deeper"? ('Teasing you!;))
on Monday, February 4th, walt said
Yes, Marjan, I think I'm gonna let you take the heat on this one.
on Monday, February 4th, Mark said
Marjan, So what is?
on Monday, February 4th, marjan said
Anything and everything even vaguely 'creative' is not 'art'.
on Monday, February 4th, walt said
I have few problems with the idea of guerilla art in most forms as long as the performer understands that they are committing an act of civil disobedience and are willing to pay the fines or do the jail time if caught. You know...if you knit one then you must perl two. Just remember that you'll have to explain to your cell mates why you are in jail. I can see it now..."I was busted for felony knitting" Man! What a bum deal!
As to the gayly colored muff on the street post? I'll let someone else decide if it's art or not.
on Monday, February 4th, Mark said
Knitting like so many other 'crafts' can be turned into fine art. My own daughter has done this with other fiber arts as well (rugs, knitting, sewing and quilting). Like any creative endevor, it is not the medium that makes something art, it is the person creating the thing that makes it art. Another fiber art form is felting (my wife does this), using wool to create shapes and usable objects, also simple in that it requires only the wool, a special needle and something to protect your hand when poking the wool. Pianting and sculpture are crafts as well but then can be uplifted into art by the creator. I knew a carpenter who could take wood from crates and turn it into furniture that transended the craft into art. So most anything can be done as an art form.
The fact that famous people are doing it, well so what? Who cares? It might bring it to the fore now, but as all things celebrity it will not last, at least not because of them.
As to the 'Guerilla Knitters,' (I do not mean to be glum on this) they may be doing no lasting harm to the things they attach thier art to, but the knitting will still be removed and who pays for the removal, you, us, tax payers. So I make no judgement on the 'guerillas' just something to think about.
I will stick to painting for now.....but for others, knitt on!
on Monday, February 4th, walt said
Jose, discretion is the better part of valour.
on Monday, February 4th, jose said
I used to sew things on to my canvases for added texture back in the 90's, on one level the knots I still insist on tying in are a synthesis of that process. Don't know if I want to get into the knitting though.
