Aug

Yarn Bombing Has Its Purls of Wisdom

by Janine Boylan on August 19, 2013

Yarn bombing turns the Andy Warhol Bridge, Pittsburg, into creative public art. Image © Knit the Bridge

The Andy Warhol Bridge
© Knit the Bridge

Street Knitting As Public Art

The Andy Warhol/7th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh has been bombed!

So has the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.

And so have numerous trees, statues, railings, phone booths, bicycle racks, and lampposts.

Yarn bombing, or yarn graffiti, is often the work of stealth knitters who wish to beautify a public place with their artistic expression. This soft form of graffiti has become more mainstream in the last few years, though, and more communities are embracing it as public art.

Meet three creative yarn bombers.

Jessie Hemmons, The Street Bomber

Ishknits, or Jessie Hemmons, is a self-described yarn bomber who started her work in Pennsylvania and has recently brought it with her in her move to northern California.

Jessie Hemmons shows a unique artistic expression---yarn bombing to create public art. Image © Dustin Campbell

Jessie Hemmons, installing her work
Image © Dustin Campbell

Hemmons learned to crochet as a teen. A rough childhood led her to a juvenile detention facility where she had difficulty fitting in.

Eventually, she found crochet hooks and, through some relentless begging, got other girls to teach her the craft.

She explains how this experience became an Oh, I see moment for her, learning that “knitting and crocheting can be used as a language; a way to connect with people when other methods aren’t as effective.”

What motivates her? Hemmons shares more insights:

I have always loved graffiti and street art. I love the concept and the rebelliousness of it.
Street art resonates with me the most because I have always had this angst and a need to assert my belief that art should be accessible.
I have always struggled with accepting my place in society as a female. . . . I want to use a mockingly feminine craft to assert myself as a female figure in the world of street art.

This video shows Hemmons making and installing a piece in Pittsburgh.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Yarn bombing of a Mayor Rizzo statue creates unusual public art. Image © Conrad Benner/Streetsdept

Mayor Rizzo, bombed
Image © Conrad Benner/Streetsdept

Knit the Bridge, Community Artists in Pennsylvania

Knitting can be a bridge to communication between people. Or knitting can just cover a bridge.

The Knit the Bridge group depended entirely on local communities’ support to accomplish their knitting project: a huge display and glorification of yarn work wrapping the Andy Warhol/7th Street Bridge, pictured at the top of the post.

Unlike traditional yarn bombers, the group sought permission to do their display. And they have a set time on September 6, 2013, when they will remove it. Oh, I (wish I could) see it!

Knit panels for yarn bombing the Andy Warhol bridge in a Pittsburg public art project. Image © Jay Ressler

Panels ready for hanging on the bridge
Image © Jay Ressler

Some number facts:

14 months was spent planning, fundraising, knitting, and crocheting
1,847 participants signed up to help
580 hand-knit 3″ x 6″ panels line the walkway of the bridge
3,000 linear feet of knitting covers the bridge towers
337 volunteers installed the panels on the bridge in two 15-hour days

After the exhibit, the group will be cleaning and donating the one-of-a-kind blanket-sized panels to those in need.

Installing knit panels as part of a yarn bombing public art project on Pittsburg's Andy Warhol Bridge. Image © Knit the Bridge

Workers install panels at the top of the bridge.
© Knit the Bridge

YBLA—Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

This group had done a number of displays throughout the City of Angels, but they had a new, ambitious idea: cover the Craft and Folk Art Museum with crocheted squares, donated by volunteers. It sounded rather straightforward at first.

Artistic expression of yarn bombing at LA's Craft and Folk Art Museum in a creative public art project. Image © Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

Craft and Folk Art Museum, Granny-Squared
© Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

And then the squares started coming in. Over 500 people from 25 countries donated squares—15,000 hand-crafted squares in all!

The stories behind the squares are heart-tugging.

A neurologist in Turkey encouraged her patients to make squares as part of their treatment. It offered them a familiar, but creative outlet. And they relished being part of a public art project!
13 squares arrived from Iran, but not by mail, since it is not possible to exchange mail between Iran and the U.S. Instead, the squares were transferred from traveler to traveler to reach L.A.
Instructors at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles held the hands of their visually-impaired students as they crafted their first-ever crochet squares for the project.

Incoming mail, containing knitted squares for a yarn bombing public art project at LA's Craft and Folk Art Museum. Image © Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

Incoming mail brings knitted squares from around the world
© Yarn Bombing Los Angeles

After fundraising, hiring engineers, processing city permits, and even fire-proofing the yarn squares, YBLA stitched their museum cozy together and unveiled their work. It will remain up until September 14, 2013.

But they won’t stop there. The group will sew the extra donated squares into blankets for people who need them on Skid Row. YBLA also plans to work with the Skid Row residents to create products for their store.

The Knits and Purls of It

Yarn bombing is a colorful, non-damaging form of artistic expression. It adds to a community’s public art. But the real purl of wisdom is how well this hand-crafted art pulls people, a community, and even the world, together.

Front Street in Pittsburg where a yarn bomber' Jessie Hemmon's showing artistic expression becomes public art. Image © Damon Landry/damonabnormal

Front Street, Pittsburgh, by Jessie Hemmons
Image © Damon Landry/damonabnormal

To watch a longer video about Jessie Hemmon’s work, click here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan Comments

The World's Art & Design/USA

Aug

Art Goes Across Cultures in “Tribute to Mandela”

by Sheron Long on August 15, 2013

How is it that a Belgian emerging artist, working with Chinese seals, honors South African activist and former President Nelson Mandela with a monumental portrait in the streets of Shanghai?

The inspiration that comes from going across cultures is, at least, part of the answer. In this video, seal artist Phil Akashi, shows his creative process.

If the video does not play, watch it here.

Mandela, An International Hero

Nelson Mandela (1918– ) celebrated his 95th birthday on July 18, 2013.

Nelson Mandela, subject of Phil Akashi's "Tribute to Mandela," a portrait created with Chinese seals and illustrating the art of going across cultures

Nelson Mandela, 2008
© South Africa The Good News

His vision of equal rights for the citizens of South Africa led to resistance against apartheid policies and to his imprisonment for 27 years.

After his 1990 release, he and President FW de Klerk negotiated an end to apartheid for which they won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

At age 77, Mandela voted for the first time in the 1994 elections, in which he became South Africa’s first democratically elected President.

Sheron Long 2 Comments

China/Crossing Cultures/South Africa/The World's Art & Design

Aug

Overcoming Obstacles: What’s Right with Lefties

by Janine Boylan on August 12, 2013

lefty writer, illustrating overcoming obstacles and Left-Handers' Day

Happy Left-Handers’ Day!

What is wrong with the photo above? No left-handed person would voluntarily write in a spiral notebook like that—it’s horribly uncomfortable on the hand!

About 10% of the population is left-dominant. They prefer to write, toss balls, cut paper, and open cans with their left hands. Often this means they have to overcome obstacles daily by struggling with tools, like spiral notebooks, thoughtlessly designed only for right-handed people.

About twenty years ago, a fed-up group of lefties, the Left-Hander’s Club, started International Left-Handers’ Day, which is now celebrated annually on August 13. According to the official site, the event allows left-handers to “celebrate their sinistrality and increase public awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of being left-handed.”

So, what are some of the Oh, I see advantages of being left-handed? Here are five.

1. Lefties Are in Great Company

Lefties are a rare, but spectacular, group of people. You probably have heard that four of the last five presidents are lefties: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan (who was ambidextrous). Other famous lefties include:

Leonardo da Vinci
Henry Ford
John D. Rockefeller
Marie Curie
Albert Einstein
Jimi Hendrix
Whoopi Goldberg
Angelina Jolie
Babe Ruth
Ty Cobb
and more.

This video highlights some other powerful lefties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6jlsKO62ZU

If the video does not play, watch it here.

2. Lefties Get to Choose Where to Sit at the Table

The best seat is the corner seat. Without hesitation, a lefty deserves to have it. After all, if everyone else eats with their right hands, a lefty doesn’t want to constantly be hitting elbows throughout a meal.

Lefty at the dinner table, illustrating overcoming obstacles and Left-Handers' Day

3. Southpaws Excel in Some Sports

It is well-known that left-handers have an advantage over right-handed competitors in numerous sports like baseball, boxing, and tennis. Left-handed players can position themselves differently and hit or throw from the side opposite of their right-handed counterparts.

For example, according to the Oxford dictionary, the term “southpaw” originated with baseball. Fields were built with home plate in the west so a southpaw pitcher was using the hand that was on the south side of the field.

lefty baseball player, illustrating overcoming obstacles and Left-Handers' Day

Throws from left-handed pitchers are actually more difficut for left-handed batters to hit than right-handed batters because of how the ball crosses the plate.
© Thinkstock

Northwestern University professor Daniel M. Abrams and his graduate student Mark J. Panaggio researched the role competition plays in relation to the ratio of left- and right-handed people. Their theory was that the more cooperative an environment is, the more single-handed it is. Conversely, the more competitive an environment is, the more even the split is between right- and left-handers.

Their research results supported their theory: the percentage of lefties in highly competitive sports is higher than the 10% in the rest of society. In fact, more than 50% of top baseball players are lefties.

4. Left Hands Can Type More Words than Right Hands

Using a standard “qwerty” keyboard and following the rules learned in keyboarding class, people can type merely 451 words with only the right hand.

Using only the left hand, however, people can type an astounding 3,403 words.

left hand on keyboard, illustrating overcoming obstacles and Left-Handers' Day

One theory is that the left-hand-dependent “qwerty” keyboard was developed
with input from telegraph operators.
© Thinkstock

Here’s a list of the awesome all-left-hand words, ranging from “ax” to “sweaterdresses.”

5. Lefties Are Faster at Using the Whole Brain

The left side of the brain controls the muscles on the right side of the body. The right side of the brain controls the muscles on the left side of the body. As a popular saying goes, “Lefties are in their right mind.”

a brain, illustrating overcoming obstacles and Left-Handers' Day

In general, information from the senses crosses sides like this, too. What you see or feel on your left is processed through the right side of your brain. Language, however, is an interesting exception. The vast majority of right-handers use the left side of their brain for language; 60–70% of left-handers also use the left side of their brain for language.

Australian National University’s Dr. Nick Cherbuin determined that people who are strongly left-handed are able to process information between the two sides of their brain milliseconds more quickly than those who are right-handed.

In a BBC report about this study, psychologist Dr. Steve Williams is noted as saying, “This seems to go with evidence that left-handers use both sides of the brain for language—that they are more bicerebral. They get faster at it because they’re having to use both sides of the brain more.”

Happy Left-Handers’ Day

More informed now about the advantages of being left-handed, we salute all lefties on Left-Handers’ Day! May this world become more equally-handed so you have fewer obstacles to overcome and more time to celebrate the benefits.

But before you all go, take a moment and vote. Let’s see how the OIC community compares to the statistics.

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