what's "yarn bombing"? - … · web viewyarn bombing: the art of crochet and knit...
TRANSCRIPT
What on earth is Yarn Bombing?
http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/news/articles/the-art-craft-of-yarn-bombing
t was two in the afternoon as "Bali" tagged the thick grey pole on
Melville Street in West Brunswick. She looked around furtively. "I
usually put them up late at night or early in the morning," she said.
"I don't like people watching."
In a café behind her, staff and patrons watched with mild curiosity.
Bali finished attaching her tag with a knot, cut her needle off, and
attached a note to lead curious passers-by to her blog, Twilight
Taggers.
What's "Yarn Bombing"?Unlike the ugly scrawled tags on trains and brick walls, Bali's graffiti
is a length of knitted black wool stretched around the pole and
adorned with colourful crochet flowers.
"Yarn bombing", or "guerilla knitting", uses the homely act of knitting
and crochet to create colorful, cozy graffiti.
After some time tagging by herslf during work hours, Bali created
the Yarn Corner Facebook group to get like-minded people together
to create bigger installations. Yarn Corner has grown to 390
members since, and has recently been commissioned by the City of
Melbourne to cover all of the trees in City Square from January 27
2013.
Is It Legal? Whether yarn bombing is illegal or not differs from council to
council, and very few seem to be able to make up their mind as to whether it is
classified as graffiti.
1
A Melbourne City spokesperson has said that yarn bombing is not included in the
council's graffiti management policies.
"We do not necessarily consider yarn bombing to be graffiti," he said. "We will
generally remove yarn from objects once it has been in place long enough for its
condition to deteriorate. We will also remove yarn if it causes an obstruction or if
it threatens to damage property or trees."
However, yarn bombers should check with their local council to make sure they
are operating legally before putting anything up.
Bali has found that there's mostly a good feeling about yarn bombing, especially
around Brunswick.
"I don't know anyone who has been charged. I was putting one up and a security
guard came out and told me to take it down or he'd call the police," she said.
"The worst that will happen is someone will laugh at you!"
The New Zealand AngleHelene Dehmer tags in New Zealand under the name Knitty Graffity and sells
hand-dyed wool products through her Happy-Go-Knitty online store.
"I was told off by the guard at Auckland Art Gallery when I put up a piece
outside," Ms Dehmer says. "They removed the tag the day after."
This didn't deter Ms Dehmer from a large-scale project called The Woolly Walk
Along, which she organised to coincide with the 2012 Rugby World Cup.
"The Woolly Walk Along ended up being an 80-metre-long installation… over 90
people from all over the world contributed," she said. "They were everything from
beginners to hardcore yarn bombers. Their creativity was awesome!"
2
But Is It Art?A common influence on these yarn bombers is the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain. Giving practical
advice on starting your tags, assembling your crew and "taking it to the streets",
Moore and Prain helped turn this once obscure practice into a worldwide
phenomenon.
However, one major influence on the movement, artist Agata Oleksiak, gets
upset when her large-scale crochet installations are labeled as yarn bombing. I
met her on a chilly street in London where she was crocheting the cover for an
iconic black cab.
"My work is not graffiti, it's art," she had said when I asked her how she felt about
the yarn bombing movement.
Oleksiak's view is that the streets are like a gallery. There should be a high
standard, and not everyone should be allowed to exhibit. Bali finds this
laughable. "It's about fun, it's about getting people together," she says. "It's not
meant to be a massively serious thing."
Another of the Yarn Corner administrators, "Jaguar", considers Yarn Corner her
full-time job along with being a stay-at-home mum.
"You never know what kind of reaction or response you'll receive from the
general public," she said. "It's about expression, and putting a tiny piece of
yourself out there into the world for all to see".
For Ms Dehmer, though, it's all about making people smile."There is so much
doom and gloom in the world, I think people need something unexpected," she
says. "A colourful message that will brighten up their day."
3
It's a Social ThingFor those who want to get involved, crafting groups are springing up all over
Melbourne. Yarn Corner meets every second Sunday to crochet their individual
or group projects together, and crochet and knitting classes for beginners are run
at places such as Thread Den in Fitzroy and North Melbourne, and Crafternoon
Café in Carlton.
The Brown Owls are another social crafting initiative with groups all around
Melbourne. The groups meet fortnightly or monthly to work on individual projects
while having a drink and a chat with likeminded people.
Stacy Foster, the organiser of the Brunswick chapter of Brown Owls, says people
come for the social aspect in an otherwise solitary pursuit.
"They really enjoy doing whatever their craft is and chatting. It's a nice
community to come to," she said. "It's that feeling you get from aunties and
nieces."
http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/news/articles/the-art-craft-of-yarn-bombing
Like this article? Want to write one like it? Check out our Get Published on Youth Central page!
Check out our Articles Archive for more articles about Arts & Music.
4