Yarnbombing

Images courtesy of Grrl+Dog

This week we had the chance to find out a little bit more about the Australian bomber Grrl+Dog. From her colourful tag shots to her call to arms for taggers – Grrl+Dogs’ blog is a wild and wooly ride.

We asked her a few questions, and she kindly obliged.

So grrl+dog, tell us about yourself:

Well you know I am a secretive rat Piscean with a bitch rising, so I hate to talk about myself…but I’ll tell you all about my dog if you like. He was rescued him from a plastic bag up north in Byron Bay where I was living. I wanted to be a foster mum for animal rescue, and he was my first case. He was a mess, a real freak after his ordeal, and since I was a freak, we fell in love. He has been with me ten years now. He rules.

How did you become interested in knit graffiti?

I saw what the group knitta was doing, and the idea was rooted in my being. I had no choice, it was like, “go forth and knit”. Not that I am a great knitter, but when I was a kid, I was a social misfit, terribly shy. I made secret places, creating evidence of a world that was more magical than the one I was in.

Found objects in public are evidence of a magical world; where a mysterious someone cares enough to make something and leave it. It is an act of generosity, of impermanence, of letting go. Like a message in a bottle, the knit is public, has its own life, and others come to “own it” too.

My biggest hope is to come across a knit where someone has added to mine. As if to say, “Here, we can build this.” If we can add this knit and play a bit, maybe we can make a community of people again and reach out. Who knows, maybe even share a cup of tea over the back fence.

Tell us about your favourite tags that you’ve made

There is a place that makes the best coffee near here. People come from all over to stand in line in a tiny cafe to get it. They have a team of baristas going nonstop from 7am till 5 every day.

I love their coffee. So they got a coffee tag. It had fluffy froth yarn ruffles, green stripe to represent the cup, and bands of rich caramel coffee and espresso wool on it. It lasted outside their shop for three months till it got manky and I replaced it. Can’t stand to see the knits get faded and raggy.

Tell us about the Global Guerilla Knit Up

It’s a bid to take over the world. I am in the process of knitting my guerilla suit for the event. A large pink oversized balaclava thing with a gorilla face on it so no one will recognise me.

Actually it’s turning into quite a thing, as bloggers take up the challenge and face their fears of exposing themselves artistically in public. You get muscles from guerilla art. Brave muscles. You learn to answer tough questions, like, “What are you doing, and why?” That is very healthy for an artist. If you have those questions nailed, you are half way there to an exhibition, or or a wider public than your loungeroom.

What’s going to happen on February 23rd?

The world will burst forth with warm fuzzy yarns of every breed and color, every heart will soften as it connects looping love across the planet stitch by stitch till there is no separation in our smiles.

We definitely hope so! Where do you get your inspiration?

From a very core need for connection, for community and for magic. Like I said, I am a Piscean, we swim in other waters and often this world is way too harsh for us. I feel the magic on flickr and blogs where thousands of amazing artists make stuff every day. Daydreams are great sources too. So is toast.

Do you really feed your dog cappuccinos?

Ha aha ha…you saw the photo? I get the cappuccinos! He gets the puppachinos. They are made from special non lactose dog milk, frothed up in a dog bowl with liver sprinkles on top. A specialty of good dog cafes…

Here is the story for the aboriginal colored knit up for Australia day in the “I have a dream” square in Newtown, Sydney.

January 26th is Australia Day. As Australians we don’t really care. We don’t do much. But it has also come to mean much for the indigenous of our country. A time for them to be recognised. Aboriginal folk have their colors proudly displayed in a large mural near here in Newtown. There is a portrait of Martin Luther King as well. I made a knit up in those colors on Australia day as my message to the traditional land owners of Australia, who up till 1966 were classed as flora and fauna in the national census.

Thanks Grrl+Dog for being so kick-ass, and inspiring us all to kick it up a notch. I’m definitely going to put a tag up on Feb 23rd, and I hope everyone else out there will too!

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.