KNITpicking: Handmade Frippery Gets Out of the House
The bottom line is: My grandmother's hip.
I'm not talking about her replacement surgery, I'm talking about her handicrafts.
Knit goods inherently possess "aura" - that special moment of visual and tactile recognition of an object’s originality, cultural value, and authenticity.
So what happens when knits leave the home to hit the streets and the gallery circuit? Here are three really notable and subversive examples of knitting techniques in the art world recently…
The Great Wool of China
1) KNITTA, a Texas-based collective of graffiti knitters, is gaining international attention and membership as a result of their signature covert knit pieces on and around signs, poles, vehicles, Great Wonders of the World, etc. These sassy seamstresses, whose identities are hidden by code names like "The Notorious N.I.T." and "Purl Nekklas", do their sneaky stitching by night, and document them by day. Check out more photos at the KNITTA site.
Pom Pom City, 2002 - Natural Wool 12' x 12'
2) Mona Hatoum, a Lebanese artist, had a particularly resonant piece on display at the new Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston this past Spring. Pom Pom City, was constructed from wool hand spun in Oaxaca, Mexico. In person, the piece is stunning in its subtlety despite the grand proportions.
Lead Teddy, 2006 - Lead Ribbon 6.5" x 5.5" x 4.5"
3) Dave Cole is a skilled blacksmith and certified excavator (and artist) working in Providence, RI. Cole takes knitting to places never before imagined. He has managed to stitch sculptural pieces from lead, fiberglass, porcelain, money, Kevlar, and even an American flag. I first became familiar with him from this photo of the most perverse comfort object I have ever seen. It might, however, lull Richard Serra to sleep.
Not only are these examples visually appealing, but I argue that they fuel the current discourse surrounding the blurring of high and low art, and draftmanship vs. craftsmanship in gallery acceptable pieces. Should this type of work be considered street art, sculpture, installation, performance...? The breakdown of traditional guidelines for qualifying displayable art began, one can easily argue, at the turning of the 19th century.
I decided to investigate this quandary by using the (slightly outmoded) meterstick of works being deemed "art" because another cannot produce it in the same manner. A photo of my experiment follows. Without hesitation, I unabashedly hail the latter three entities as fine contemporary artists.
My membership entry submission to KNITTA
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