Explosive Art

“From Winter Wear to Spring Wear” – “Yarn Bomb” in

Washington, D.C. created by the group The Warm and Fuzzies.

This relatively new art form is blowing up in New York, Philadelphia, Paris and even in our very own Athens, Ga. Yarn Bombing is a new form of graffiti that is more “feminine and cozy” than what you typically see on walls, streets or practically any surface in the urban landscape. According to a New York Times article published recently, Jessie Hemmons, who knitted a pink vest for the statue of Rocky located outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, says that her art is “like graffiti with grandma sweaters.” This oxymoronically named art form got its surge when Mandy Moore (not the one you’re thinking of) and Leanne Prain published a book of photos and tips for up-starters called Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009). Since then, many have taken up the cause and have created breath-taking and time-consuming projects all around the globe. You can even spot a “bomb” outside the Lamar Dodd School of Art on UGA’s Campus. Whimsical, crocheted smoke clouds escape the cigarette repository outside the front doors of the building.

A "Yarn Bomb" outside UGA's Lamar Dodd School of Art

The message that these artists communicate is somewhere between political activism (acknowledging a feminine side of a typically male-dominated art) and revitalizing the ideas surrounding knitting and crochet. The temporality of the pieces is another thing that draws artists to the medium. The yarn does not hold up in the elements for more than a few weeks and the objects are sometimes quickly removed, but ephemeral qualities make it so exciting. What a great way to spruce up the neighborhood. UGA graduates Francesca Valente and Carrie Mumah chronicle their Yarn Bombs around Washington, D.C., in a group called “The Warm and Fuzzies.”

To learn more about this urban phenomenon, read the article, which also shows a video of a woman “bombing” the bull statue near Wall Street. All we can say is that we love this creative outlet and it is certainly not your average warfare.