Body cocoon 5, 21.10.20
29.10.20 We had the opportunity to go away for a few days and stay near the sea so I decided to knit my next Body cocoon with a selection of blues, to depict water. I'm not entirely sure yet of the final form the Body cocoon will take, but I'm enjoying the colours. I'm also knitting it in sections as then it's much easier to carry around on walks and on the beach. Inevitably, I did manage to do some knitting on several beaches and benches, in cafes and I did plenty of knitting in the car.
Knitting in public, out and about in Devon, 21.10- 26.10.20
I see my knitting habit as a form of performance, although there's is often no audience, especially in these Covid days. For more images visit I knit therefore I am, Oct 2020
Trial installation, at home, 29.10.20
Trial installation, in the studio, 10.11.20
This is obviously reminiscent of my vertical installations of Red is the colour of..., The red strands were similar in form to these, except that the protrusions also had random bobbles knitted on them as well. These are undulating, but smooth.
My intention is to join these blue knitted pieces to make a 5th Body cocoon, but they're also quite interesting installed horizontally. They're much more like waves! It is very enjoyable knitting with all these shades of blue. It's definitely much easier than knitting with red wool. That intrigues me.... Is it partly the variety of shades? Or is it purely about colour? Does everyone respond to colours in the same way, I wonder? I actually think I have some kind of synaesthesia around colour and texture. My senses get mixed up sometimes.
Vertical ....or horizontal?
22.11.20 Performance where shore and water meets
See Body cocoon 5 (The line where shore and water meet), 22.11.20 for a video and more images of this impromptu performance.
Body cocoon 5 is growing! I have started to knit together the separate strands of blue so that they will hang, as you can see, from my head when I wear it. In these photos, there is really only enough knitted strands to cascade down my front. My plan is to knit enough trickles so that it will cover me entirely, as if I'm standing in a knitted waterfall. I am an avid outdoor swimmer and just after this photoshoot we swam in Clevedon Marine Lake. It has been a lifeline during the pandemic, it's so immersive, invigorating; it makes me feel alive. It seems appropriate to be knitting water and to cover myself in it, especially with the current lockdown restrictions. I have to say, it's not quite the same as plunging into icy water, but being covered by blue watery knitting feels good. This piece is an homage to wild swimming.
4.1.21 In these images Body cocoon 5 is unfinished. I wanted to see how it looked as a work in progress and the best way to do that, when you're wearing it, is to get someone to take some photos of you on the shoreline! Now, a month or so later, it's nearly finished, I think. It has many more strands of blue knitting. I need to take some photos of it somewhere when I'm happy that it is definitely finished.
9.1.21 It's finished! Here are some photos of me wearing it. I'll take some photos of the knitting without me when I can. Click here for videos of the two performances I did, in the mud! These images really remind me of Ritta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth's Eyes as big as plates project.
