activism + protest.

The positive side of things, because after all, activism is not a 4-letter word.

Craft: Why Breaks Are Okay, And So is Re-Entry

| Betsy

Funny how life loves to throw you curveballs. Even more funny (in the ironic sense, unfortunately not the “ha ha” sense), when craft saves you once, and then saves your ass again.

And speaking of craft saving your ass, I bought Kathleen Vercillo’s new book this morning, Crochet Saved My Life: The Mental and Physical Health Benefits of Crochet, which I will be reviewing and sharing more about here soon.

If you look over here, you will see in the slideshow, a photo of the piece above when I was just beginning it. Several years ago. The photo in the slideshow was all “Woohoo! New piece! Yeah!” and then I started it, effed up some of the stitches (after showing it to Mr. X Stitch and Lauren O’Farrell in London in 2011, I knew most of it needed to be redone. Subsequently, the photo you see above is of a piece that has been redone, several times. Pieces of the aida cloth up towards the top of the piece are (in some cases) down to their last literal threads.

Fast forward to earlier this spring, during a talk in a class on Creative Dissent at the Corcoran, when I was talking about my own work. I mentioned that the series linked above is something I’ve been working on off and on since 2004. One of the students said the equivalent of “Dude, that’s a really long time.” To which I responded, honestly and without hesitation, “Yes.” If anything, this series has taught me how not only our lives ebb and flow, but our creative endeavors, do, too. And, sometimes, these two intersect in a cluster*ck of inaction, uncertainty, doubt, frustration, and, frankly, wanting to just effin’ quit. Not life, necessarily, but all its flourishes aside from sleep/work.

And if you’re like me, you end up eating little but toast and hiding all your work in boxes and watching really bad tv reruns. And then one day, your fingers start to itch and you wonder, “what ever happened to that piece I was working on?” And after the excavation of 4 other boxes, in the 5th box, you find what you were looking for. And the intersection between life and creativity bubbles up in your brain and you start stitching. And you realize that there are reasons for these creative breaks, and you understand why at some museums you see that 1 piece by 1 artist took 9 years. Because we are made to ebb and flow, we are made to create. However, sometimes things get so shite that you end up in Toastville using your boxes full of creative projects as a makeshift cat beds so the cat can look out windows. (Truth!)

So, again, I realize that while these breaks perfectly natural, it is imperative for them to be “breaks” and not a “full-stop quit.” I also realize that sometimes those “breaks” honestly feel like a “full-stop quit,” especially when you get to Toastville (or your equivalent of Toastville)! And that’s okay. We’re allowed to burn out, stop, take a break, go learn new things or just zone out for a bit. However, we need to also give ourselves permission to fall in love again. To realize why we began to stitch/paint/insert-creative-endeavor-here in the first place.

We need the break in order to refuel and recharge and remember why we’re here, what we love, why we make, and who we are. However, we need to give ourselves permission to take one in the first place. So, while you hopefully don’t make it all the way to Toastville, hopefully you will allow yourself to stop when you feel like it. And when you look back at that project that took 7 years when it should have taken 1 month, remember that break with pride, serenity, and joy.

I was there the day that the students were knitting (in some cases learning to knit!) to make this “Student Debt Blanket.” You can see them (they were awesome!) in the video below, along with their blanket:

Creative Protest: Studet Debt Blanket 1 from FoodFight on Vimeo.

JP Flintoff’s How to Change the World!

| Betsy

First off, thanks to Sarah of the Craftivist Collective, whose Facebook post tipped me off to this this morning. When I was in London a year or so ago, I had the change to meet JP Flintoff in person, who Sarah told me was “lovely.” And, after we had coffee (thanks for the cuppa, JP!), I fully concurred.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Sew Your Own for free, so this morning I bought a copy of his new book, How to Change the World, published by the wonderful The School of Life in London.

Here’s a lovely clip of JP talking about how you can change the world, which has made me excited to read the book!

The video clip is from here.

Now go start changin’ the world or something, y’hear?


You can order How to Change the World, as well as his other books, here.

To read more from JP, check out his blogs, JP Flintoff and Making Things. You can also find him over at @jpflintoff.

KnitRiot Knits ’em, Leaves ’em and Warms up the Needy

| Betsy

Below is a lovely little video about a Los Angeles group called KnitRiot who makes crafty items and leaves them for the needy to find and take. How wonderful is it to make something full of intent and care and love and then leave it for someone who needs it to take by placing it near a homeless shelter?! As you’ll also see in the video, they also placed a tree sweater on one lucky tree, placing various items to craft with for passersby to take… And most beautifully, when they returned to the tree, they found thank you letters for leaving craft supplies.

What a wonderful world, indeed.

[Apologies for the giant video, but there wasn’t a resizing option…]

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

For more photos and information about KnitRiot, check their website: http://knitriot.blogspot.com/

Also, check out the LA Times article about them over here.

Craftivism For All, 100%. (Silence Is Our Weapon.)

| Betsy

[A quick to this, a day later. My two points in this are: 1. If people (those you’re protesting against) expect A, give them B. When confronted with loud noise, people emotionally shutdown. Give them what they (those you are against, the media, the talking heads) what they’re not expecting. 2. And do 1 in a way which engages with others. Tie your work to a pole, put it on a t-shirt, put it online. Just start a dialogue. Use your work, your protest, as a “conversation starter.”]

Over the past few months, except for a few tweets, I’ve been publicly quiet about the Occupy, 99% protests. But, if you’ve spoken to me about it in person (or saw those tweets), you would very much be aware of that fact that I don’t support them. Which, maybe to a lot of people sounds strange or sancrosanct or totally uncool, but it’s true.

To me, the whole point of craftivism is to take an issue/cause you believe in and use your craft to speak out about it. Coming up to the table with no actual issue at hand or an amalgam was never part of it. An issue: war, famine, injustice, prison rights, homelessness, university cuts, torture, inequity, environmental damage, social rights, human rights, mental health, freedom, etc. I/you/we could go on, as there is no shortage of issues to rally against!

Craftivism is about making something that gets people on the other side to ask questions about an issue, confront their own engrained opinions on a subject, and if they are willing, start a dialogue. The craft is the activism because it stirs up thoughts about an issue in the minds of the audience on their own terms, they see the work, they wonder what it’s about, they ask questions. They bring the questions to the table and open the dialogue, instead of you rushing in first. The craft opens the door to the activism, truly making the process craft + activism = craftivism!*

I also think that in countries where we have the right to speak out and yell, using your craft/creative endeavors/silence (as in silent protests/sit ins) is loads more effective than making a giant fuss. Because 9 times out of 10, the side you’re fighting against? They’re not going to listen. They’re going to dig their heels in. They’re going to join forces with their peers which they already agree with. It’s when we have the freedom to speak out, that we should re-invent ways of changing things.

By making a quilt/pillow/tapestry/cross stitch, etc., you’re given a way to enter the circle that becomes closed once you raise your voice (or sometimes even just open it!). You let them into the conversation by not yelling, you catch them off guard, daring to subvert the paradigm and let the silence guide the fight, not the cacophony.

In a world where we’re constantly tweeting, texting, watching tv, seeing ads, busy, busy, busy, silence can become our biggest weapon. People close off when we yell, but are forced to think when we’re silent or present work that asks questions or act in a performance piece. Silence gives us the time to question what’s going on, we’re disarmed by it because we’re all kept so freaking busy by our gadgets and technology. Silence strengthens us directly because we have the right to speak up.

In contrast, what made the Arab Spring so powerful? That people who didn’t have the freedom to speak out spoke up, tweeted, joined en masse in public, and in many cases risked (or even gave) their lives to do so. They did what wasn’t done, and changed the future of their countries.

So, in order for us to truly, honestly change things, we need to stop yelling, and speak out in other ways. Stitch a banner, weave a tapestry, knit a scarf, crochet a hat, embroider an old sweater with questions you want to ask, things you want to yell, problems that keep you up at night. In order to create change in people’s hearts, you need to first disarm them by catching them off guard.

They are prepared for your words scribbled on cardboard, chants, marches, fights. They have shields to hold up, tear gas to shoot, pepper spray to aim. They are used to so many ways of protest, because we have the freedom to be loud. We have the freedom to be loud, and have used it such great effect that people don’t pay attention. So when they expect noise, be silent. When they expect a hard fight, bring soft craft.

Dare to find another way to speak out so those who expect your visible rage will be disarmed by your passionate silence. Dare to look in the opposite direction in order to find the back door to dialogue.

Dare to use your craft as your activism, whether you are the 99% or the 1%. Dare to envision a world without people digging in their heels, and instead one where we step ahead towards conversation instead of backwards in argument. Dare to do what they don’t expect out of a true wish to effect change, not to just vent your anger.

By lowering our voices and offering news ways of fighting, we can raise our voices without shouting by using things such as craft as our mouthpiece. We just need to bring silence back as a force of power, instead of noise first.



*The slogan craft + activism = craftivism came about around 2003, because when I first started writing about craftivism, a term that was literally made up, no one knew what the heck I was talking about. It was the only way I could get people to a) figure out what I was saying and b) spell it! These days, it’s less of a problem, but I’m glad the slogan stuck around nonetheless! Hurrah!