Knitted tag, cloth boxing gloves and a playdoh flag
From the very first time I peeked at their blog, Deeply Superficial People inspired me. A marriage of knit graffiti and other textiles, stitching vigilantes SewJaBoy and Owl_or_Nothing’s unique pieces have been spotted around San Francisco and Sacramento. From tags shaped like boxing gloves and bear traps, to flags placed in trees to celebrate the love of PlayDoh, to simple knitted cozies – the work of these not-so superficial peeps will definitely bring a smile to your face.
Tell us about yourself.
SewJaBoy: I am 25, originally from Kentucky, but am now situated in Sacramento California (USA) and I presently make money as an environmental consultant. (not the most creative job ever)
Owl_or_Nothing: I’m 30 and was raised primarily in Sacramento, California I now reside in San Francisco, California while attending law school.
How did you get into textile graffiti?
SewJaBoy: Well, I guess we were influenced by Knitta and beer, plus our myriad of random ideas.
Owl_or_Nothing: I think that SewJaBoy sent me an email with a link to Knitta and I really liked the idea, I brainstormed a couple sketches and then one day over beer we talked about how the idea was really cool. It just kinda took off from there. I think that we both wanted to do a project that
How did you two meet each other?
SewJaBoy: We’ve been crafting since 8-8-08, and met in the cube farm at my current job. I’m not sure how we really began talking, but our art collaboration began with her taking photos and me modeling. Apparently I’m not model quality, lucky I don’t embarrass too easily.
Owl_or_Nothing: Actually, he’s not that bad of a model, mostly because of the fact that he will comply with all my random requests (like the time I had him wear a life vest and told him to pretend swimming in a office complex hallway) and he is game to go along with all the random ideas that we come up with.
What sort of materials do you work with?
SewJaBoy: Mostly yarn and fabric, she’s been doing the knitting, and I’ve been sewing, but times are changing, we’ve got all sorts of ideas involving cardboard, paper, electric fans, etc. When we started we didn’t want to limit ourselves to one specific type of media, so we settled under the broad term “Craft Graffiti”, but time will tell. We might turn into a 2 piece string quartet. That doesn’t even make sense.
Owl_or_Nothing: To date I’ve done mostly yarn, but did my first sewing graffiti project a couple of weeks back. I’ve got some ideas for new sewing projects as well as other media including popsicle sticks, recycled CDs, and paper.
Wind sock for a traffic light, cloth bear trap on bike rack
What are your favorite objects to tag? Do you have a signature style? How do you attach your tags?
SewJaBoy: I wouldn’t say we have a style yet, our venture is still young and we have plenty of work to do. I don’t even know if I want a style. I had an art teacher tell our class that if you make the same thing over and over again your whole career, chances are you’ll get famous, but I think I’d get bored. Well, I guess that worked for Thomas Kinkade, but I hate that guy, hopefully he’s bored. Then again, he’s rich so whatever.
Owl_or_Nothing: I agree that we haven’t hit our stride yet or developed a real style. To date we’ve primarily attached our projects to objects with zip-ties or by buttons and buttonholes and used tags that we use an old school typewriter that SewJaBoy has to write our name on.
How often do you tag?
SewJaBoy: We attempt and tag once a month, we would like to accomplish more, but it’s tough with other projects/work/school/travel, oh and being lazy. There’s a lot of that on my part.
How do you get your inspiration for tags? What inspires you?
SewJaBoy: Daydreaming at work. Well in truth I try and think of something completely random and yet easy enough for an amateur sewer like me can do. I just started sewing, only made one item before this project. Things have been working out for the most part. Now I’m coming up with more intricate designs. I really think our projects are going to start getting pretty cool if we actually sit down and work on them.
Owl_or_Nothing: Most of my knitting projects don’t have much forethought to them. I went out and measured a bunch of objects so I know approximate diameters of many of the poles around town. Usually I just pull a skein of yarn out of the huge garbage bag of free yarn that was given to me and start knitting. I have ideas for some more intricate projects, but need to buy a larger set of knitting needles so that I can whip them up more quickly. I’ve got some ideas for some larger projects that have come from looking at objects and daydreaming about things that could be done with them.
Do you have any other words of wisdom for other Yarn Bombers out there?
Owl_or_Nothing: Go out and have fun. It’s a great way to bring a little piece of art to a boring urban environment.
Owl_or_Nothing (top), SewJaBoy (bottom)
