The · Post · Ironic · Spinsterhood

I know this community isn't active anymore, but I felt it important to post today, the day of badasstronaut's funeral. We have lost 2 of the founding members of the Spinsterhood- far, far too young. Thinking of you Jen and Debra eating cake, talking about dumb stuff and probably making rude jokes.

Spinsters! - here are some things I really want to see this summer:

The Jamie Shovlin exhibition at Haunch of Venison in London town (on til Aug 18th)
The Stella Vine exhibition at MOMA in Oxford town (on til Sep 23rd)
Pick of the Bunch at the Fashion Museum in olde Bath Spa (on til Aug 27th)

Anyone want to join me at any of these shows? I know velvetdahlia was planning on organising people for the Stella Vine show, and that nicecupoftea expressed interest in the exhibition at Bath, but i'm sure there are other arty spinster types out there. I guess if I want to see the Jamie Shovlin show then I need to be in London some time in the next 3 or 4 weeks- can London cope with another visit from me so soon? We (velvetdahlia, dansette and burryman )also talked about visiting sourpussand eugenesucks in their delightful hometown sometime. Seems like the only way I can afford to get to see them is by catching le Bus Mega up to London town and then something equally cheap out the other side again.

I also really want to get down to Chi again to meet up with pickles2u, planetwheelerand magic_pumpkin again- but i'm thinking maybe I might head that way for my birthday (and miss_jen 's) because having a birthday this year without Jen will be horrible, so I might as well spend it eating cake by her graveside (oh god is that really weird and unhealthy of me?)



And at the end of August i'll be there for Ladyfest Bristol

Hi, I hope it's OK to post this here, it is knitting related so it's not too much like spam (I hope).

Would you believe it, in the midst of organising this, I've run out of yarn on my current project! Complete disaster! I don't have any work in the show, I'm just organising it this time around, but my knitting was the only thing that was keeping me sane. Wibble, wibble...

Anyway, I hope some of you will be able to come along, there's some really exciting work in the show.

Kirsty


TWISTED: KNITTING ON THE EDGE

October sees an exciting new exhibition opening at Bristol’s innovative Here Gallery. Timed to coincide with National Knitting Week (which takes place between the 14th and 21st October), Twisted: Knitting On The Edge is a group exhibition featuring 15 artists who are exploring the subversive potential of knitting.

The resurgence of knitting has been one of the big stories in craft in the last few years and this exhibition shows that contemporary artists are increasingly turning to knitting as both medium and inspiration. From the disturbing and challenging to the witty and unusual, freelance curator Kirsty Hall has chosen a diverse selection of work that includes sculpture, photography, book art, drawing and animation.

From a life-size burka made from hand-spun human hair to a knitted straitjacket, this exhibition is bound to surprise!

The Opening is on Tuesday 3rd October from 7.30 – 10 pm and everyone is welcome to attend. Several of the artists will be there, including one all the way from Holland. If you can’t make the opening, the exhibition runs from Tuesday 3rd October to Tuesday 31st October and the gallery is open from Tuesday – Saturday 12.30 – 6.30 pm



X-posted to my own journal and p_i_spinsters.
Apologies if you see it more than once.

READY FOR ACTION: RECENT WORK BY MARK NEWPORT
Knitted super hero costumes, embroidered comic book samplers and prints.

The Here Gallery, 108 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3RU

Exhibition dates: 6th- 28th May 2006

Gallery Hours Tuesday - Saturday 12.30-6.30/ by appointment

Evening Private View: 6th May 7.30-10pm


Once again the innovative Here gallery in Bristol is delighted to pay host to an artist showing for the first time in the UK, this time it’s the turn of Arizonan Mark Newport to bring his art to Stokes Croft. Mark will be bringing a selection of his life-sized knitted costumes for super heroes, his hand embroidered comic books samplers and his most recent developments in the form of ink jet prints. This exhibition combines two of the strongest strands of Here’s identity- our passion for comics, and for knitting!

“Turning the superhero inside out is a way for me to present an understanding of masculinity”, says Newport. “Superheroes suggest strength, but knitting them or covering them with embroidery provides a softness that is contradictory to their image. Like the mild-mannered exteriors of superhero alter-egos Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, who morph into Batman and Superman respectively, these are not the trappings of rough-and-tough, super-powered individuals, but rather of the common male who plays his role in life with integrity, gentility and reliable consistency -- characteristics of masculinity often undervalued in our society.”

There will be a chance to knit and natter with Mark on the opening night from 7.30pm onwards, or join us for one of our regular ‘Stitch and Bitch’ meetings on Sunday 7th May from 2- 6.30pm. We will be hosting a ‘small-press soiree’ for all our favourite small press cartoonists on Saturday 13th May from 7pm to co-incide with the Comics Expo taking place in Bristol the weekend of 13th and 14th of May. All welcome.

If you’re travelling any distance, please do phone 0117 9422222 to check that the gallery is going to be open as we are staffed entirely by volunteers and do very occasionally have staffing difficulties.




I was over at the gallery this afternoon and the show is looking absolutely stunning. If you can't make it to the private view tomorrow night then there's plenty of time to catch it during the rest of May. If you're at all close to Bristol then I really recommend trying to see it, Mark's work is great and he's just on the cusp of getting reasonably well known in the art and knitting world. We are thrilled to be giving him his first UK show and it's a real coup for us. So hopefully as many people as possible will come along and see it. To that end, please pass this information on to anyone you think may be interested.

http://www.hellokitty-rollerrescue.com/diary/diary3.asp

Does that count as spam? Surely not.

RECLAIM THE NIPPLE!

Open submission for hand crafted nipples

March 2006 – Send the The Nipple Project a hand-made artistic interpretation of your nipple or of someone’s nipple you love! We are creating a community based art installation consisting of 3-dimensional craft media such as knitting, crocheting, beading, sewing, felting, gourds, leather, metal, wood and other creative materials. The final piece will feature all nipple submissions sewn, wired or stitched together to create a large wall installation and will be displayed in October, 2006 to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

We weren’t around to burn our bras and free our breasts from the constraints of enclosure, but we applaud you if you did! This is our way of celebrating our anatomy and embracing the perky tips of our breasts; the part that today still seems to be such a distraction and causes such a commotion! Let’s face it, it’s okay to have our breast spilling out over our neckline, but we’ve got to cover up our THOs*. That’s why certain lingerie companies have developed high tech bras for “maximum nipple coverage.” It’s time to RECLAIM THE NIPPLE! Yes, we do have a few of those high tech bras, and we do have days when we ponder wearing no bra, the comfy little unlined cotton bra or the super bullet proof nipple eradicating bra. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to burning our bras. At $40 bucks a pop, who can afford it! So we decided on an art project…how “pc” of us.

Make this a project for your knitting group, or that crafty group of friends you brag about.

We can’t wait to see what your crazy little minds and crafty little hands dream up. Now go get crafting!

For specific dimensions, submission guidelines and free patterns, click here. Deadline for submissions is July 31st 2006.

Contact: Andrea M. Dominguez at [email protected].

The Nipple Project

*titty-hard-on for those who aren’t in the know

I have a very, very old tiger. It is a bit falling to bits and made of fabric with a slight fur (except where it's rubbed off). It is in a pink knitted baby dress (but that's sort of irrelevant). I need to disinfect it because it has been near headlice. Does any spinster have gentle washing advice?