Annette Dutro, a.k.a Stockannette, casts fiber pieces for doorhandles.
At Mo’Joe’s on Michigan Avenue and North Senate Beth Eisinger and Annette Dutro sit in the corner under dim lights sipping on coffee and working on a special project, their table covered in yarn.
These ladies are not just a small, quaint knitting group but part of a larger mission to take fiber arts to the max.
In January, Eisinger sent out a call for artists to take their craft to a whole new level by becoming part of gang who established themselves as the Yarnburners. The name was based upon a “barnburner”, an extremely successful event, and the graffiti term “burner” a large, detailed design.
The Yarnburners set out to create fiber artworks to tag the Harrison Center. In the likeness of graffiti artists who tag buildings with their own spray painted sign or symbol, each fiber artist would similarly invent a personal signature for their soft sculpture artwork.
Popular around the nation, fiber artists have been tagging sites with their soft sculpture graffiti hoping to make social statements in a nondestructive yet expressive manner. These artists have been creative in finding unique ways to wrap and drape their work to cover or “bomb” an area.
The idea took off in Indianapolis when Eisinger observed Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting, a recent exhibition at the Indiana State Museum and read a book called, Knit, Knit, Knit. From there she called artists together to begin work on the installation.
Beth Eisinger, a.k.a Strick9, wraps foam letters.
Eisinger tagged herself as Strick9 based upon “stricken” the German term for knitting and the influence of drugs on the streets. Her friend Annette Dutro, aka Stockannette, based her tag name upon her favorite stitch.
About 25 to 27 men and women are involved in the project working individually or among small pockets, coming and going in and out of monthly collaborative get-togethers as the project progresses.
In the development of this project, artists have been asked to scout out and pick a location for their official fiber art installation where they can choose their method of “attack” for the “bombing”.
Although there are some rebellious knitters in the group, most of the soft sculpture will be used expressively to give a different life to the Harrison Center in colorful and textural way.
All types of weaving techniques have been accepted for the mass installation such as wrapping, crocheting, felting, and knitting. Eisinger says that the broad definition of the project slowly became the accepted norm as the group expanded their activities and people responded to the call. Overall, the project has become an entity of its own that has yet to expose itself as a whole.
The "bombing" is secretly planned to take place before the Harrison Center’s First Friday opening in May. Plans to move the bombing outside will be considered for future fiber art and knitting-related events.
Upcoming meeting: Thursday 3/12 at Strange Brew Coffee House, 4800 W. Smith Valley Rd. in Greenwood from 6-8 p.m.
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