For those of you who can't make it to the Turnpike, you can watch my (rather clunky) youtube video of me winding my ball and then crocheting the monster bacteria. It didn't turn out as big as I'd hoped, due to lack of stuffing, but hey, it ain't no granny square.
Oh, and who would you want watching you shed blood and sweat for your artistic practice? Well the UK Minister for Culture, Andy Burnham, of course.
Stay tuned for my next Cor Blimey Crochet! installation. This is just puppy feed.
I'm getting ready for the UK DIY show at the Turnpike Gallery.
You'll recognise one of my white reefs on the cover there (and Alabamawhirly's gorgeous gloves, Miso Funky's emo-broidery, Ildiko Szabo's freeform and the odd bit of yarn bombing, too).
But I'm not installing coral this time. I've cooked up a plan with Ildi to install micro organisms.
All are larger than life.
Some crocheted and felted.
And some gigantically, ridiculously, arm crocheted (as let's face it, hand crocheted doesn't apply to this monster!) I'm calling it Cor Blimey Crochet!
If you've ever wondered what a listeria bacterium would look like enlarged to the size of a car, then the Turnpike will be the place to visit.
Thanks to the lovely Jacob Semko and my one and only hub, MyTarPit, shaking their tail feathers for the last 3 days and helping me construct this filament, I've got 300m of the stuff to drag across the Irish Sea and tame on site. I'll not know if it works until we're actually in the gallery, so fingers crossed.
And so why am I doing this - because, let's face it, it's not for the fun of picking glitter out of my undies for the rest of the year! Well, I want people to think about who really rules the world. Here's a sneak preview of my wall text.
MICRO POWER
I've often wondered why the Human Race thinks itself so superior. By taming other creatures and bending them to our will, we assume that we have the greatest intelligence of any organism.
But I'm not so sure.
I'm beginning to think that micro organisms truly rule our planet. We rely on them to keep us alive, all the time hoping that they don't kill us. Meanwhile, they're mutating and evolving, making our defenses ineffective.
At only a few nanometers long, some of these microorganisms are so small that they don't even reflect colour. (Humans can see colour waves between only 400 and 700 nanometers long.)
Under a powerful electron microscope, scientists have to fire electrons at the microorganisms to 'excite' them and make them glow to be visible.
MICRO POWER lead me to enlarge these monumentally powerful, yet microscopic entities using crochet and felting. Featured here are the common cold, bacteria, micro fungi or other viruses.
As you visit the gallery, think about how you're trafficing these micro organisms unwittingly and look out for new clusters.
Not convinced of their dominance?
•Millions of Prochlorococcus can live in a drop of seawater, quietly making oxygen. They made one in every five breaths you take.
•About 100 trillion microorganisms live in your gut. Most of these bacteria and viruses aid your digestion.
•Some viruses use mind control. Rabies, which is fatal in humans, enrages its host, making it bite, just to pass on the virus.
•Then there's body control. Dengue Fever turns your immune system against you, so that you're attacking your own body from the inside.
•Myxamatosis, found in rabbits decides just how long it needs to keep its host alive to be bitten by enough mosquitoes in order to move to new hosts.
•And there are micro fungi that lasso roundworms before devouring them.
My advice? Think small.
So come down, help the viral spread of artwork both in and out of the gallery and rediscover your love of craft.
There are a few extra classes going on. I've tried to photograph the details. Hope they come out. If not, just go to the Turnpike site.
Yep, this Aussie flu, which was so kindly packaged up and shipped over to the UK by my fave antipodean nation has kept me busy this holiday and seems to have taken up residency for the new year. Cheers Oz! I'm onto my FIFTH (yes, fifth!) bout of the lurgy.
For those keen of eye, you'll spot that cheap gin has made its way into my cure pack now. I'm trying to sterilise myself from the inside - and no, I'm not using the beloved Hendrick's gin, as I can taste NOTHING, so it would be wasted.
Now the gin has no medicinal qualities, but I could call this research, as I'm actually working on a piece about micro-organisms at the moment. I can't show you the piece until it's ready for the gallery, but here's a blurry tease.
It's all for the UK DIY exhibition at the Turnpike Gallery in Feb. If you're in the UK and don't know about it yet, well you're going love this!
We'll be celebrating just how fab the new wave of craft is, how wonderful, versatile and all-encompassing it can be and how ACCESSIBLE.
Not only will there be sculptural pieces, (provided by yours truly and Ildiko Szabo) but a myriad of cool things going on, including chances to learn to crochet, a craft fair on the opening day, and....
......Coolest of all, the first official public showing in the UK of Faythe Levine's special promotional edit of the film Handmade Nation.....
Yep, you heard me! What a coup! We've all been waiting for it and I for one will be at the front of the queue.
The opening is on the 14th of Feb and the film will be on show throughout the UK DIY exhibition at the Turnpike Gallery, Leigh between February 14th and April 26th.
See you there for lots of crafty shenannigans.
Now, should you be under the impression that you're not really a label junkie, let me correct you.
You may not care to dress in Lacoste T-shirts, or carry YSL handbags, but a HUGE amount of your life will be tied up with packaging and branding images.
Not convinced?
Well I challenge you to take a trip to London's Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising and not spend a good few hours exclaiming
"Oh! I'd forgotten all about..."
"...pink, teddybear shaped talc bottles. Just about every one of my friends had one on their dressing table." And then be able to recall all the other features in your 7yr-old mates' bedrooms; the fluffy red rugs, the Womble lampshades, the woven plastic chairs.
"...Mr Men ice lollies!" And be able to taste the sugary, syrupy 'red' flavour.
" Windolene! That pink stuff we used to clean the windows with!" And remember how you'd wipe it on the windows and then draw in it before polishing it all off to a streaky gleam, noting how, just like calamine lotion, it used to go chalky on your fingers.
See? Just like music and smells, brands whisk you back to long-forgotten memories.
Real fruit jellies are my Grandma and Grandpa's house at Christmas.
Dairy Box is the twin birth of my little brother and sister.
I could go on....
But the genius that is Robert Opie's collecting habit means that there are not only sweet wrappers and items of 70's perfumery madness on display, but everything from Crystal Palace crocheting paraphenalia
to vintage sewing patterns.
Not sure what's more scary. The shapeless nature of the lilac top, or the hairdo that looks like it's fresh-popped from a toaster!
The museum captures perfectly the way British society has changed in the last few hundred years or so. Each cabinet is a time capsule of our attitudes to each other and even our use of language.
I will leave you with two thoughts.
Chocolate. It's food!
And
(distant cough)
It's the Marine Conservation Society's 25th anniversary and to celebrate, they're gathering at a certain royal gentleman's house.
And what does one decorate Clarence House with for such an occasion? Why, trash that highlights the dangers lurking in our oceans, of course. Trash that, I'm incredibly honoured to announce, one has used to create jellyfish sculptures.
(second, distant, rather over-awed, cough)
Yes, my sculptures will be viewed today by none other than His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.
Here's hoping that they don't sting him, as last time I checked, the Tower of London was a drafty destination!
I'll post pics of royal interest if there are any.
Right.
Think of three things that you would never expect to hear in the same sentence.
Pom pom.
Yurt.
Place of conflict.
So if I tell you that I'm going to be taking part in Amy Lamé's Pom Pom International Peace Tour, in a yurt, travelling to places of conflict here in Northern Ireland, you might be forgiven for thinking..."huh?"
But it's really happening, Reg!
Here are the dates.
Saturday 23rd August
10am-4pm
Lunasa - Bash at the Bann
Portadown
Co.Armagh
Sunday 24th August
7.30pm-11pm
The Official Pride Ball
(part of Foyle Pride)
The Corinthian Ballroom, City Hotel
Derry
Co.L/Derry
For which I've dyed up some special 'Pride Flag Roving' for proud fibre fiddlers.
Monday 24th August
4pm-9pm
Share Village
Smith's Strand
Lisnaskea
Co.Fermanagh
Wednesday 26th August
Time to be confirmed
Crossfire Trust/Singing Kettle
Darkley House
Darkley, Keady
Co.Armagh
Thursday 28th August
2pm-5pm
UNBCEP Cross Community Sports Day
Woodvale Park
Shankhill Road
Belfast
I'll be teaching folks of all ages and abilities how to spin, make yarns from
recycled materials and to dye wool with Koolaid!
And all in a beautiful yurt built by the equally beautiful Nat at neck of the woods.
So come on, set your cynicism aside and embrace the softness, the fluffiness, the pom pomery that is Pom Pom International's Peace Tour.
Oh, and it's free!
I'll be the woolly-fibre fiddler mentioned!
You can read the full article by ferreting around in last week's recycling, or by clicking here.
Mine are the wall mounds.
It's wonderful to be SO busy with all the events coming up, but it does mean that I just don't get time to tell everyone about them. So apologies for being so tardy!
First! Did you know that 8th June is World Ocean Day?
There's a link here to the petition. Sign it and you'll add your voice to the many others asking the UN to recognise the day and bring about a greater awareness of the oceans' plight.
The summer is busy, busy, busy. There's the Hayward, (Darling!) opening on the 11th June, with a private viewing on the 10th (ooer!)
Where you'll be able to see two of my reefs in my wall reef series; pink and green. And also a smack of my jellyfish.
On the 13th June, I'll also be 'engaging people in craft' at the Southbank's symposium, 'The Art and Craft of Saving The Planet'. I really can't wait to spend a day with so many like-minded people (whom all happen to be at the pinnacle of their chosen field.) I feel priviliged to have been invited to take part. It promises to be a unique gathering of very exciting uber-boffins! Oh, and nervous wee me!
Please come along and see what we're all up to. And make sure you say hi when you're there.
Then finally, after Much, Much, Much anticipation, it's WOOLFEST!
Anyone and EVERYONE who has any fibre fiddling urges is going to be there. And as it's my birthday just a week before, I'm heading that way with NO restrictions on my purchasing.
It will be fibre gluttony in it's most beautiful form.
