Tuesday, May 17, 2011

ALTERNATIVE STREET ARTS




click for larger image

In this piece I was interviewed to talk about the knitting variation of the new street arts: yarnbombing.
I love the guerilla gardening idea! Might take that up one day. Sounds like your cup of tea Tijm?!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

YARNBOMBING & WILDBREIEN

The last couple of months I've been interviewed by a handful of journalists talking about my yarn bombing activities. Suddenly something I did on the side became a small label, a (knit) tag if you will.

Thing is... I haven't been extremely active lately. All around me, everywhere people have decided this form of street art is a fun, cool and creative way to spread some joy and wonder. My scraps were calling me from the attic and so I spent my weekend working in 3 small yarn bombs. I started one and made it an exercise in 'letting go'. it was a challenge.

And I'm not making the story better. I seriously found it hard to just let go and knit without thinking about the looks of the item. I had to correct myself several times and keep myself from 'designing' it too much.

As I finished 'the therapeutic bomb', I found myself knitting another one. It was a reaction. I couldn't help it. I knitted 'something'. A figure. I can't be cured, it's a curse....



Another small piece I whipped up in a couple of minutes just to have an extra yarn bomb to make the group complete and have more recognition chances with the public.

I made 'Berkely M.' my accomplice and at 22:30 we took gaffer tape, scissors and a needle and got to work.
We were joking around each time a car arrived. Not taking it all too serious. Two minutes after we left the scene, 3 police cars drove by. Now let me explain. I live in a village. There is only one copper.... so they must have called for backup from the city. Just saying...
This morning I spotted 2 of the 3 yarn bombs, still in place. Tonight I'm checking the third. Hope they'll be there for a while. Gotta go, the scraps are calling....

Gisteren heb ik samen met 'Berkely M.' in ons dorp, Berkel en Rodenrijs, 3 wildbreisels opgehangen. Wildbreien is zo populair aan het worden dat ik onmogelijk mijn eigen dorp 'ongebreid' kon laten. Zeker niet omdat ik de laatste tijd veel interviews heb gegeven over het fenomeen wildbreien. Mijn restjes op zolder riepen steeds harder en dit weekend heb ik een therapeutisch stukje breien gedaan. Een wildbreisel moet vooral vrolijk zijn, maar ik kan het niet laten om er (te) hard over na te denken en er meteen maar echt iets tofs van te maken. Maar daar was geen tijd voor, ik heb mezelf gedwongen om gewoon maar te breien en niet na te denken. Leuk joh!
Twee minuten nadat alles hing kwamen er 3 politie auto's langsrijden. Bizar, want volgens mij heeft Berkel maar één politieman. ;-) Toch wel spannend. Niet omdat ik bang ben voor een discussie, maar omdat ik het zo zonde zou vinden als het breiwerk erafgehaald zou worden. Maar we waren op tijd weg van de 'crime scene'.
Moet gaan, de restjes roepen me weer....

Friday, May 06, 2011