We're quite fond of a bit of subversive stitchery here on the blog, so we wanted to celebrate International Yarnbombing Day, which falls on the 9th of June this year. But due to bad weather (which means bad internet) and a dodgy wrist, I'm not able to do up the big article I wanted. So heres lots of links, reading material, a few books to get, and even a yarn graffiti documentary!! I'll edit it over the next week to add in more stuff.
Any of you yarnbombers out there, send us your pics/links!As we'll do a follow up to this next week after International Yarnbombing Day.
According to wikipedia
Yarn bombing, yarnbombing, yarnstorming, guerrilla knitting, urban knitting or graffiti knitting is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre rather than paint or chalk.
While yarn installations – called yarn bombs or yarnstorms – may last for years, they are considered non-permanent, and, unlike other forms of graffiti, can be easily removed if necessary. Nonetheless, the practice is still technically illegal, though it is not often prosecuted vigorously.
While other forms of graffiti may be expressive, decorative, territorial, socio-political commentary, advertising or vandalism, yarn bombing was initially almost exclusively about reclaiming and personalizing sterile or cold public places. It has since developed with groups graffiti knitting and crocheting worldwide, each with their own agendas and public graffiti knitting projects being run.
In The Subversive Stitch, artist Kate Walker is quoted as saying that she has "never worried that embroidery's association with femininity, sweetness, passivity and obedience may subvert my work's feminist intention. Femininity and sweetness are part of women's strength. Passitivity and obedience, moreover, are the very opposite of the qualities necessary to make a sustained effort in needlework. What's required are physical and mental skills, fine aesthetic judgement in colour, texture and composition; patience during long training; and assertive individuality of design (and consequent disobedience of aesthetic convention). Quiet strength need not be mistaken for useless vulnerability."
Protest stitching is not new, it has been used for a long time as symbols of subversive activity. Here are some books, and lots of links to very interesting articles we have gathered...
Books:
Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain
New Embroidery, Old Fabric,Changing Values by Annin Barrett
The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine by Rozsika Parker
Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting,
Websites/Links/Articles:
www.yarnbombing.com
www.knitthecity.com
www.magdasayeg.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bombing
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37853/the-wild-and-woolly-world-of-yarn-bombing-street-arts-soft-sensation
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/fashion/creating-graffiti-with-yarn.html?_r=1
http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20120604-worldwide-weird-international-yarn-bombing-day
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=1807931.html (its on a football site!!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/banners_01.shtml
http://www.keith-miller.com/curatorial/threadbare/
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/about/index.php
http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/ageofirony/aoizine/annette.html
http://rejectapathy.com/worldview/features/26245-crocheting-for-a-better-tomorrow
http://informationactivism.org/balloon-mapping-documenting-gulf-coast-oil-spill-and-student-protests-chile
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14927713.2008.9651417
http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/publications/stitching-truth-womens-protest-art-pinochets-chile
Film:
Help fund a Yarn Graffetti Documentary (we did!!)
http://yarngraffitidocumentary.blogspot.ie/
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