Yarn Bombing; is it Explosive or a Dud? Part V Streetcolor
Streetcolor was in a bookstore one day when she found Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, after reading through the whole book she decided to join the Yarn Bombing movement. Streetcolor started small and then ended up blogging not too long after she started Yarn Bombing. She was shocked at how easy it was to start and keep up a blog about her work and because she is a professional artist she decided that she’d turn Yarn Bombing into an art form. She is based in Berkeley, CA and has received a lot of attention from the media there. After covering the streets of Berkeley she decided to branch out and has been traveling farther and farther from her home and community to spread the joy that comes with seeing these knit pieces.
Streetcolor mentioned to me a sense of danger and excitement that comes with Yarn Bombing that she felt when she began Yarn Bombing and now feels when she branches out of her usual spots. This adrenaline rush can be a common for yarn bombers and while a lot of law enforcement does not give yarn bombers trouble many do not know how to react to and this could result in a ticket or many more questions. Her rules keep her from doing anything too crazy. She doesn’t want her pieces to create controversy so she never covers statues, and tries to pick spots where she won’t have to take her art down.
Streetcolor is hoping to receive more commissioned work, which Magda Sayeg does frequently and which seems to be the next step for many Yarn Bombers. Getting paid for your work seems to mean that you’re rising in the art world and this may reflect on Yarn Bombing’s role in the art world. Streetcolor says that there is a part of having work commissioned that takes the fun out of it, having to create what you are asked to, dealing with permits, and figuring out how much to charge, it makes things more stressful. But with the new commissions she makes sure she still does work for fun and her work has been paying off. Not too long ago she was included in an NPR special on knitting and continues to have stories published about her work.
Streetcolor’s view on the timelessness or timeliness of Yarn Bombing is that it is still in its beginning phase and that more people are going to start getting involved. “Right now there are a lot of internet fads that come and go,” Streetcolor said, “but graffiti and knitting have been around for thousands of years.” She also believes that the DIY movement will also help encourage more people to pick up knitting needles and get involved. This outlook on the future of Yarn Bombing seems promising and all of the Yarn Bombers that I interviewed seemed to agree that Yarn bombing is still growing much faster than it’s being forgotten.