The increased emphasis on communication technology as well as an increasing awareness of the finite nature of our natural resources seem to present themselves as some of the most significant changes in our collective cultural consciousness within the last decade. The rise of the Slow Movement in Britain and the subsequent growth of the DIY (do -it-yourself) movements, while drawing from the historical precedent of the Arts and Crafts movement and the political content of the Postmodern period, are unique to the last decade in their current form. Growing dissatisfaction with the sterility of the public environment has caused many artists to take on public art projects in order to reclaim public space. Graffiti, site specific sculpture, public art and DIY all fall under the scope of the larger movement I will call Community Reclamation Projects.
Traditional crafting techniques such as knitting, crocheting, needlepoint and sewing are some common techniques employed by this movement. Reasons for the use of these processes include the democratic nature of crafting; it is relatively easy to learn, requires few materials, and are processes that are well known in the larger community. Crafting also lends itself to the production of politically charged statements due to its association with the domestic; the perfect embodiment of the phrase, “the personal is political,” a phrase which first appeared in an article by Carol Hanisch in 1969.
Community Reclaimation Projects have become a way to domesticate public space and change the way people interact with the industrial. To see the possibilities of such a project, let us look at “Pink”, a piece conceived by artist Marianne Jorgensen. This work is the collaboration of hundreds people from around the world who volunteered to knit over 400 pink squares that were then stitched together into a tank cozy and draped over a retired WWI tank. Comical and cute, this piece is anything but sobering. Yet its arrival during a time of international conflict, with the Danes helping the American invasion of Iraq sets it in a different light. It becomes a disapproving eye over Danish foreign policy and a call for peace. The visual effect of seeing a tank covered with pink knitted squares is quite appealing; here we see the domestic dominating the industrial; a relatively simple way of changing the environment by covering it with a strikingly different material. This is also an example of the contemporary shift of artists away from the studio and into the community. In CRPs especially, we see artists transcending their identity as individual makers and instead embracing the role of community leader, or simply community member. This role of community leader shifts the focus of the project from making work to simply facilitating interpersonal connections.
Lindsay Obermeyer
The Red Thread Project
2004-Ongoing
Artists Associated with Community Reclamation Projects
Cat Mazza
Marianne Jorgensen
Lindsay Obermeyer
Knitta
International Fiber Collaborative
Sabrina Gschwandtner
Critics Associated with Community Reclamation Projects
Glenn Adamson
Bruce Metcalf
Sabrina Gschwandtner
Betsy Greer
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