Yarnbombing: A History That Came To Beacon And Connects It To The Wall Street Bull And Other Yarnbombed Landmarks

The original yarnbomb by Diana Currie on the Dummy Light before it was mysteriously removed.

Over the weekend in Beacon, people were ravenously refreshing their Facebook feeds to see where "the yarnbomber" was going to strike next. A "yarnstorm" had formed after an art installation by Diana Currie that was part of Windows on Main Street 2015 (#WOMS2015) had been taken down, inspiring local knitters to band together to take to the streets at night to put more yarn up throughout the city. If you were in line to get coffee at a cafe or to support a local bake sale, people were discussing where they had been lucky enough to spot a yarnbomb before it was taken down. Diana's installation, a gray and blue yarn cozie for Beacon's famous Dummy Light, which is on the endangered species list as far as tech things go, was one of over 30 art installations created for the 11th annual Windows On Main Street exhibition. The theme this year was "Industrial/Metal", and the artists went to work creating their expressions in various windows throughout Beacon.

The Wall Street Bull got covered in carefully stitched yarn in 2010 by artist Agata Oleksiak aka Olek.

But Why Would Anyone Knit A Dummy Light?
Yarnbombing is a thing, but if you have never seen it before, it can be shocking. Yarnbombing has its own Wikipedia page which credits various people with starting the movement in Houston back in 2005, although it could be the 1990s. The first time it came on my radar was when I lived in New York in 2010 and read an article in the New York Times which covered the history of yarnbombing right after the Wall Street Bull got blanketed in a camouflage pattern of fuchsia, purple, black and teal by the artist Agata Oleksiak aka Olek.  When A Little Beacon Blog announced we were a media sponsor of Windows on Main 2015, we titled the post "#WOMS2015 Has Blogbombed A Little Beacon Blog" because a website can't be wrapped in actual yarn, but it can be wrapped in pictures. We would love to get yarnbombed though!

Yarnbomb on Dummy Light disappears after 48hrs. Artists rush to react, first with a sign from Keith Decent, then with replacement knitted pieces.

So What Happened?
The knitted piece got mysteriously taken down within 48 hours. I am speculating here to say that not everyone knows about yarnstorming or yarnbombing, and when one or a few people saw the knitted cozie on the Dummy Light, they felt uncomfortable about a landmark being graffitied in yarn, and took it down.

The removal of the yarnbomb set off a hailstorm in Facebook, both on people's personal feeds, and in various groups dedicated to things or passions in Beacon. The trouble with combining Facebook and passions is that the public forum became a very "loud" yet silent place of opinions and name-calling that one might never actually say out loud directly to another person.

Whoa - Sounds Dramatic - What Happened Next?
Conversations happened quickly and in many different threads. One man who is credited with igniting the negative talk, later rescinded his comment after learning that yarnbombing is a form of well-received artistic expression. He later gave suggestions that the yarnbombers consider knitting an American flag. Instead, fly-by-night yarnbombers decorated Beacon with cozy wraps or adornments. 

Artistic expression can incite emotions, and emotions were running wild. Name calling started, someone called everyone "artsy tartsy," and that's when the tote bags and iPhone covers got made.

The Conversation Took To The Streets

Knitting brigades formed and the yarnstorm grew. Signs, made by another artist, Keith Decent, accompanied new yarnbombs which brought the art installation to a new level. Dialogue was happening between the artist, the community who took up arms  - I mean yarn - and folks who were working through their own understanding of art.

Local reporter Brian Cronin (also a contributor to A Little Beacon Blog) was on the case, filing a special weekend report about the yarn bomber as events unfolded. Normally yarnbombing is a peaceful, colorful, comforting expression to the object on which it covers. The greatest part about its name is that people who do it are so harmless, that they get to call themselves "knitting ninjas" in books like "Knit the City: A Whodunnknit Set in London" by Deadly Knitshade, which is a graffiti knitting collective founded by Lauren O'Farrell from London, who pushed the yarnbombing movement from simple 'cozies' to the innovation of the 'stitched story'. The stitched story in Beacon became a live action page turner. Here are a few of the developments, as told through Facebook screenshots:

The reaction to name calling in Facebook.

Another attempt at wrapping the Dummy Light. This time camouflaged as yellow street paint. But it was still spotted and removed.

I felt lucky when I spotted this wrap, which lasted a few days.

Other artists who were inspired by the Dummy Light showed support. This Dummy Light necklace from Caiming Cung Jewelry was wrapped in knitted yarn.

The Strangest Part Of All...
Diana has another installation up at Dogwood. It is two curtains with half a heart on each. When the curtains are still, the heart is formed. When the wind blows, the heart splits. I had seen Diana at the Dogwood prior to Windows on Main opening, and she very subtly told me that her art was up on the Dogwood exterior, and that it was a giant statement to the brouhaha that happens in Facebook groups. She did not want to make a big deal of the meaning, as it could launch a series of ironic dialogue. We discussed this phenomena of unfiltered commenting happening all over the country in many different kinds of groups, not just local ones.

The fact that 45 crochet squares of gray and teal that took 15 hours to make is the piece that started this interactive conversation is surprising. Yet for Windows on Main, a project that happens with the support of BeaconArts, the crocheted installation is a success. Not only did it start a dialogue, which is what art installations aim to do, but the dialogue became a running commentary of comments, of knitters going out into the night to put up more wraps and signs, of people getting joy out of spotting the yarnbombs and signs, of people removing those yarnbombs, and of memorabilia being created. I even put up a blanket! I don't knit, so I called it "yarning" and wrapped a pink and white blanket around the Dummy Light. It was only there for 12hrs, however.

In Other Beacon Trivia...
Diana's installation on the Dummy Light is across the street from 1 East Main, a former electric blanket factory and the location of the street art event put on by Electric Windows in 2010, where street artists painted canvases live while the public watches and eats from nearby restaurants. Those paintings are still in the windows as of 2015.

For a link to a lot of photos in the Windows on Main exhibit to see the amazing pieces of work by all of the artists, visit Windows on Main's Facebook page. There are also pamphlet maps all over the city to show you which artist is in which shop or location.

Watch Olek install her knitted blanket in 2010 on the Wall Street Bull at night. Truly fascinating!

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming
Now that it all seems to have lifted (or been lifted - no pun intended!), we can all get back to our regular weekends of drinking beer on the back porch, grilling hot dogs, roasting fresh corn, and having pie from the Beacon Pie Company. And if you think you are missing a weekend festival, you probably are, so best to check A Little Beacon Blog's Annual Events Calendar of things happening in and around Beacon, NY.