I have never felted before. I didn’t even know what roving was. Now I do. It is very peaceful to sit and stab a ball of fluff with a needle. Right until you get your finger.
I prefer additive sculpture over reductive, so I enjoyed this process. I made a caterpillar by felting several little balls and attaching them together in the form of an inchworm. Then I kept adding layers and adjusting the position. Layering the colours reminds me of working with pencil crayons. I never lay down one colour and often deliberately choose colour that contrast jarringly to get the effect I want.
I got wrapped up in needle felting and planned to do the wet felting at home. Sadly I got sick. So I didn’t get to it yet.
Wertheim’s goal “to communicate about science, technology, and mathematics in new and innovative ways, focusing on what I consider to be their poetic and aesthetic ends” p278 seems eminently worthwhile. It doesn’t focus on the “big” questions, rather it makes every day science accessible to everyone, even those of us who may not have an understanding of the formulae and terminology that typically frames this kind of discussion. For young students, it is essential for them to develop confidence in their ability to understand science so they may feel wonder and delight when they learn about it. This doesn’t mean that formulae should be rejected, but that they are only a part of science understanding and exploration–a cerebral part–that can be fueled and complemented by engagement through creative disciplines such as literature, art and music.
In describing Daina’s crocheted models, Wertheim says “you can actually see the space, and feel it, and explore it with your hands.” p279
The Method
“…all you have to do is increase stitches in each row: knit-(n) stitches, increase one; knit-(n) stitches, increase one. When you increase stitches every two stitches, for example, you get a model that gets crenellated very quickly; if you increase every twenty stitches, on the other hand, you get a form that is relatively flat and a lot less frilly. That was the complete initial discovery—utterly simple and utterly brilliant. But Christine and I gradually found that when we began deviating from that original formula the models started to look quite different and a lot more organic. For instance, we tried increasing every three stitches for a while, then every four, then every five, then back to three for a while, and we found that the forms changed quite substantially. So, what we’ve come to is that this is like an experiment in practical evolution; you have this simple, underlying code, but slight shifts in the code make radical differences to the morphology of the finished form.” p281
The play tank “literally, physically playing with ideas”
I am not sure if my ideas of knitting and crochet as art have changed, since I already had a pretty inclusive idea regarding what could be considered art. I do know that a lot of people have traditional ideas about art, not realizing that the things they do include were often rejected by the artist’s contemporaries. My ideas around the validity of crochet as a means to represent science, and as a means of furthering research into science and mathematics has changed. I think it is important to point out that while they are playing with ideas that those who are planning to share it with the academic community will be striving to maintain rigour in their process and documentation practise.
Another thing that this has helped me realize is how separate we keep different disciplines.
From an artistic point of view, the crocheted reef is astonishingly beautiful. It is sophisticated, complicated, but the whole work can be experienced without being overwhelmed by the details. The scale is part of what makes it magnificent. It is very effective at communicating what will be lost do to misuse of the planet. I prefer this manner of social commentary over those that show the garbage piling up around us. Rather than using guilt, it is like someone is teaching you to care. Saying “look” “please”
As always, I kinda want to soak them in ceramic slip and fire them up.
Buszek (Ed.), Extra/ordinary: Craft and contemporary art (pp. 175-183). Durham and London: Duke University Press.
I saw this online image of a cozy, little fire hydrant all tucked up in a knitted hydrant sweater. I thought it was one person pulling an isolated prank. It turns out I was wrong; yarn bombing is a “thing.”
It is quirky and makes me laugh. It is subversive in its association with graffiti, but it is cute and mostly harmless. No property is damaged, but a mark is definitely left behind.
I suppose it could get even more subversive depending on the things referenced by the graffiti artists.
Would I ever yarn bomb?
I think I wouldn’t. It seems like a lot of work that I would be leaving behind. Maybe I am more attached to my product than I realize.
Prain, L., & Moore, M. (2009). Yarn bombing: The art of crochet and knit graffiti. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press.
“My ethnicity does not matter to me. Being Chinese or Canadian is irrelevant. I only know that I am an individual living in this world.”
“Nostalgia defeats people. It destroys achievement and makes people lose sight of a better future.”
“If you want to change your life in some way, the path can be a difficult one. But you have no choice but to face such difficulty directly. By doing so you will become a better person.”
“…in this process my ideas are born. None of this, however, can be expressed artistically until the artist has developed technique.”
“Life provides me with experience; art provides me with a way to find my inner self.”
How will identity affect my work?
I put myself … my ‘self’ back together after struggling through 7 years of depression. So much of my art centres around flawed worthiness and I depict it through beautiful, broken things. My struggle with perfectionism competes with this. “The conflict should generate some powerful work,” she muttered in a voice laced with irony.
Gu, X., (2008). “In My Own Words,” In Creative Expression Creative Education (pp. 65-75) Edited by Robert Kelly and Carl Leggo, Calgary: Detselig Enterprise Ltd.
I found Skanda was challenging to follow. I recognize that the inserted lists of textile materials and equipment generated a mood through imagery, but the way I just described it here-flat and analytical-is similar to the way I responded.
I wish it wasn’t. Perhaps a second reading would help. I did feel like the reading traced the history of textiles in a rather selective way, but the author seemed more motivate to mystify rather than clarify. Perhaps I was in the mood for something concrete rather than poetic.
I ran into several challenges as I engaged in creating a macrame design. They sprang from being overbooked, having poor time management, struggling with perfectionism and longing to make incredible art.
As a result, I spent too long on every part of the process as well as letting other responsibilities take me away from consistently working on it.
I thought I was trying to embrace enabling constraints, but I still thought about creating something 3D rather than getting on with a 15 – 30cm 2-dimensional design. I also kept starting over and continued to feel dissatisfied with the piece I created.
I worry if I don’t fulfill every ambition for a project that I won’t have the chance to do it later. But I also don’t have the skills, time or tools to create full-scale sculpture at this time.
I am not sure how to resolve these conflicting motivations.
I don’t love the twine. The fuzzy fibres make the knots difficult to see.
I didn’t make my cords long enough. I experimented with attaching additional lengths, but I wasn’t satisfied with the result. So I started over. A few times. 😛
The end product doesn’t look much like what I designed. I feel like the weight of the cord I used wasn’t sufficient to create the draped look I was hoping for.
The final creation doesn’t have the focal points, but it does contrast a spiraling sinnet of heavier weight, with a lighter open mesh of Josephine knots and a thin drapery of loose ends. I cropped them a little shorter than I would if I made this a again. The knots I used include:
Lark’s head knots
Half knots
Square knots
Josephine knots
And an experimental dragonfly
I learned a lot, and I feel like I could do some interesting things with macrame if I kept with it.
I saw this online image of a cozy, little fire hydrant all tucked up in a 
The final creation doesn’t have the focal points, but it does contrast a spiraling sinnet of heavier weight, with a lighter open mesh of Josephine knots and a thin drapery of loose ends. I cropped them a little shorter than I would if I made this a again. The knots I used include: