Whose Public? Spatializing Politics Through Street Art
(in progress)
Workshop prepared by Carol Zou of Yarnbombing Los Angeles
About Yarnbombing:
Yarn bombing is a relatively recent form of street art that employs colorful displays of knits or crochet and other fiber material instead of paint in public space.
Some engage in yarn bombing as a fun and creative way to use up left over yarn, others consider it an urban intervention to personalize otherwise cold and impersonal spaces or to make socio- political statements. Humor is often a major component of yarn bombing, which by its nature embodies contradictory idiosyncrasies within itself.
In its seemingly odd juxtaposition of knitting and graffiti, often associated with opposing concepts such as female, granny, indoors, domestic, wholesome and soft vs. male, enfant terrible, outdoors, public, underground and edgy, the practice of yarn bombing redefines both genres. Yarn bombing transforms knitting from a domestic endeavor to public art, recontextualizing both knitting and graffiti, both of which are marginalized creative endeavors that fall outside “high art.”
Like all public art, be it sanctioned commissions or self-initiated, unauthorized formats, yarn bombing imposes a particular aesthetic onto an environment that may be appreciated by some, but may not appeal to everyone. Yet, yarn bombing is necessarily ephemeral due to its use of materials and perhaps the most environmentally friendly graffiti because it can easily be removed with a pair of scissors and no damage left behind.
Workshop Duration: 2hrs
Materials:
Pens
Notepads
Scissors
Recycled Sweaters
Tapestry needles
Yarn
Fabric paint
Felt
Buttons
Beads
Icebreaker: 25 minutes:
Students break out into paired groups and discuss one of the following topics for 10 minutes. The group then spends 15 minutes presenting the results of their installation.
1) What type of street art do they see in their neighborhood?
2) What kind of people make street art? What kind of people enjoy street art?
3) What messages do street art send? What is the effect of street art on neighborhoods?
4) Is street art vandalism? Is graffiti street art? What is the reaction of authorities to graffiti?
Location scouting: 20 minutes
Students will travel to nearby location to be yarnbombed. They will take measurements of pieces that they want to yarnbomb. Students will measure at least three different pieces and make a sketch of the pieces so that they have options. Students should aim for a yarnbomb that is no larger than 2 ft x 2 ft. Students can team up to cover larger pieces such as a bench, etc.
Location debrief: 15 minutes
-What has the student selected to yarnbomb?
-How does the object the student has selected currently function in the space?
-How will yarnbombing the object change the space?
Yarn bomb making: 50 minutes
-Using recycled sweaters, student will cut out and piece together a yarnbomb according to the measurements that they have taken. They also have the option to decorate their yarnbomb using fabric paint markers, felt, buttons, and beads.
Yarn bomb installation: 10 minutes
-Students will sew their pieces onto the object that they have selected.
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About Yarnnbombing LA and Carol Zou
Yarn Bombing Los Angeles (YBLA) is a group of guerrilla knitters who have been collaborating since 2010. YBLA stages public installations and performances to help expand the definition of public art to embrace street art, including self-initiated, ephemeral urban interventions utilizing fiber material. Collaborative art making, community building, public outreach, blurring boundaries between contemporary art practices, graffiti and craft are integral components to YBLA's practice.
The group organically grew out of a participatory yarn bombing event organized by the Arroyo Arts Collective in Los Angeles and became an entity of its own during the six month process of putting together Yarn Bombing 18th Street, an interlacement of site specific installations featuring 65 local and international knit graffiti artists. YBLA projects range from the day long urban intervention outside MOCA's seminal Art in the Streets show to conducting knit graffiti workshops for LAUSD teachers, students and their parents.