Monday, April 28, 2014

"Hand In Hand"

A newly finished knitting -- this piece triggered the title for the art show I recently installed in PA. Unfortunately, I ran out of black yarn halfway through and, when I discovered that the yarn was back-ordered for another month, I was forced to set it aside. 

~~~~~~~    See, for me the hard part is designing an image and the fun part is knitting it. So there's rarely a time that I have more than one project cast onto needles. Usually I get that knit addiction (knitters know what I mean! Like when you're so obsessed with seeing the fabric develop that it becomes 1am, then 2am, then, dammit! Ann you're gonna hafta put..the..knitting..down!)

THEN the art show came and went without the opportunity to get this finished and included. When I found the yarn was back-ordered for ANOTHER month, I decided to go to my local yarn shop and find a suitable replacement. I was about halfway through at the time. I came to the resolution that I would knit a few rows in the new black yarn and, if it proved distinctly different enough, I would rip the whole project out and start over with only the new yarn. But LUCKY ME, it proved indiscernible and I whipped out the rest in 2 days.

In hind sight, I think this only would be possible to do with black yarn. Any other color would've been too hard to match. Not to mention, black yarn absorbs light like crazy, making it hard to knit with but great for hiding mistakes!

~

What do y'all think of this piece? I started out with the phone, a symbol of everyday communication (I'd love to do a great, old rotary phone with coiled cords but since no one uses those anymore, I had to go with a phone that reflected current life, current connections). I then added the toilet paper, another small shared item of domestic living. Do we have anymore toilet paper? Will you pick some up on your way home? When the two came together I found the whole idea of the image changing. What was originally supposed to be reflections on companionship turned to a more solitary feeling for me. Now when I look at this, I think of my last job and hiding in the bathroom for extended periods of time, to try and get a break, and, of course, bringing my phone since the boss wouldn't approve of email checking on the clock.

What does this image make you think of? How does it make you feel? Do you think I'm crazy? Is it funny? I believe that only 50% of the meaning in an art piece comes from the artist, the rest comes from the viewers and the way others interpret them. How do you interpret this?

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