Political Knitting

Posted in Crafting, Democracy, Digital Culture, Extended, Feminism

March 4, 2009 at 8:50 pm

Happened to stumble upon a photo of one of LisaAnne’s amazing knitting creations on Ravelry – she knits amazing works of art, very often with political messages. They’re phenomenal and leave me speechless (as do the comments on her blog from people saying things like, “I hope your plane crashes. There’s no room in the world for hate like this.”) Do I need to point out the irony in that? Of course not, since you all have more than half a brain.

The pieces are complex in every way – not only would any 1 of these take me 10 years to knit, but the messages are busy and multi-faceted (such as her recent “No on 8″ sweater – which is simultaneously a message about Prop 8 AND a bioethical comment on the “octo-mom” taking over the news.) My columns don’t allow space to display one of her images here, but have a look. They’re challenging as works of art, clothing, political statements, crafts, etc. Just phenomenal.

Worth a look for artistic and political statements, and if you’re a crafter/knitter/crocheter, then you’ll be agape at the skill involved.

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Brain Art

Posted in Blurb, Crafting

December 25, 2008 at 9:57 am

AS SOON as she saw her first images of the brain, Marjorie Taylor was spellbound. The vibrant pinks and blues, the intricate detailing – somehow they spoke to her. “I couldn’t help but look at them with the eye of a quilter,” says Taylor, a psychologist at the University of Oregon. “I thought the folds of the cerebral cortex would be great in velvet.” And so was born a new genre of visual art: scientifically accurate fabric brains. Link to article in New Scientist.

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