Spinning a Yarn

A$5,966
of $5,678 targetyrs ago
Successful on 1st Jun 2012 at 2:00AM.
 
'Spinning a Yarn'

'Spinning a Yarn' is a tiny response to a very large problem.

It is an intimate performance work that takes place in a small wooden cubby house using a knitted 'underwater' installation to raise awareness about plastic pollution, oceanic degradation and species loss. The seascape interior forms the underwater garden of Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester, the Plastic Bag Ladies of the Sea, two genteel ladies who tell a sea shanty tale about Monkey and Turtle and the threat that plastic bags pose to sea turtles when they mistake them for jellyfish.

Together, Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester are KnitPiC (or Knit Plastic in Crises).

Click to see Spinning a Yarn on Youtube or on the KnitPiC Facebook page


It is offbeat enough to capture your attention, quirky enough for you to enjoy and grounded in such a simple message that it’s hard not to leave Mrs Polly Mer and Polly Ester’s underwater world without wanting to make a difference. Perth Now, Fringeworld review, Feb 2012.


Fundraising Goals:

   

Since their debut at the Sydney Fringe 2011, KnitPic has won an Sydney Fringe Award for Excellence, conducted 'Underwater Knitting Circles' at the Peat's Ridge Festival and has been a guest of the Perth Fringeworld...

....But now we are ready to take the next step

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre has invited KnitPiC to conduct a two-week residency in May and June to develop the work for a season at the WAY OUT WEST (WOW) FESTIVAL FOR CHILDREN in July.

However, we need your support to turn up the heat.... so we can:

  • purchase additional renewable/low-energy technologies (EL wire, LED lights, rechargeable batteries)
  • cover insurance, transport and production costs
  • improve the production values of the show = set, installation, costumes and props
  • subsidise the following artists to work with us - 

  • musician Rose Turtle Ertler- to develop an original score and enhance the underwater soundscape. (Who could refuse a human with Turtle in her name and who makes music from knitting patterns?)


  • visual artist and designer, Matty Stegh - to enhance the internal seascape and support the development of design concepts for the exterior ‘garden’space


  • graphic artist, Mystery Carnage from Miska Graphics to develop our images, publicity and website, which will have links to environmental and educational resources


  • creative engineer/designer/technician, Joey Ruigrok van der Werven- to build knowledge in the application of alternative energy technologies, 12-Volt batteries and LED lights.

 

This WOW Children's Festival season is a fantastic opportunity for us to immerse a whole new bunch of audiences deep into our kitsch knitted world and bring the delightful world of Monkey and Turtle, the story's protagonists into the hearts, minds and imaginations of a great number of young people and presenters.

Their underwater garden is a truly visual feast, layered in knitted treasures, recycled plastic and a whole array of surprising features. Perth Now

'Spinning a Yarn' ultimately appeals to our capacity for compassion and care for even the tiniest lifeforms. Using knitting as the smallest of political actions, the work invites people of all ages and backgrounds to join together in a communal act of craft as a metaphor for how we can take action to address the impact of human behaviour on the environment.

In telling a simple story, the work creates a space within which to contemplate the fictions we tell ourselves to hide from the truth and reflect upon our emotional responses to the deterioration of our planet's ecosystems.  

The interior and exterior of the cubby house are made from rehashed trash and re-imagined plastick, including 'plarn' - yarn made from plastick bags. The lights and sound are powered by renewable energies.

Using the North Pacific Gyre - where large volumes of plastick collect in the Pacific - as the site for their dramatic tale of survival, Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester encourage their guests to knit up an ending for Monkey and Turtle' story . They also invite the audience to join them in knitting with plarn. But how does the story end? Can the Plastic Bag Ladies of the sea reconcile the audiences' hunger for a happy ending with the facts of environmental disaster? Needles(s) to say, the Plastic Bag ladies love playing with tension of all kinds.

Project Aims

Our aims for the 2012 May/June residency and July WOW Children's Festival season are to:

  • deepen the immersive experience inside the cubby
  • enhance the exterior/interior and visual impact
  • refine the script and crank-up the soundscape
  • increase opportunities for interaction with upcycled, recycled, knitted and craft materials
  • raise awareness about human impact on the environment
  • increase the modelling and uptake of alternative and renewable energy technologies.

Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Arts Practices

The lights and sound for 'Spinning a Yarn' are run from 12-Volt rechargeable batteries and a 120-Watt solar panel. Key aims of KnitPiC are to reduce its enviromental impact, minimise its carbon footprint and model innovative sustainable arts practices. Our strategies include using:

  • renewable energy technologies (photovoltaic cells, rechargeable batteries)
  • low energy lights (LEDs and electroluminescent or EL wire)
  • recycled/upcycled materials as a first choice
  • ‘Underwater Knitting Circles’ to demonstrate how to make and knit with 'plarn'.

Apart from a Small Sustainability Grant from Marrickville Council in 2011, which helped us purchase the solar panels and rechargeable batteries (thanks Marrickville), we have self-funded the project till now.

Therefore, we are really excited about the opportunity Casula Powerhouse is providing us and are extremely grateful for their support and investment of $5000 to develop the work. But we need to more than double this amount to take the work to a level that will attract further opportunities for touring regionally, nationally and internationally. We are passionate about spreading the love of turtles and other endangered species from the woolly depths of our quirky cubby and out onto the dusty corrugations and busy boulevards of Elsewhere.

Our vision is to spread the word about sustainability and the impact humans are having on the environment for current and future generations of living beings via authentic and transformative arts experiences; to educate, entertain and inspire dialogue about environmental sustainability without being preachy, condescending or didactic; to take carbon neutrality to the streets and make it 'sexy', to make it a place, a state and a destination that people, particularly young people want to be.

This is the beginning of our foray into crowdfunding and we hope you will support us.

Thanks very much. Follow our updates, please stay in touch and knit well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/KnitPiC


A bit more about KnitPiC’s journey

'Spinning a Yarn' is the brainchild of KnitPic (Knit Plastic in Crises), a creative partnership between PhD science communicator and guerilla knitter (Susan Williamson) and post-circus artist (Simone O’Brien). We are both artists who are passionate about environmental concerns, in particular the threat that loss of habitat and ecosystems pose to all species.

Our partnership weaves a unique niche at the nexus of environmental science, the visual and performing arts, craft, community involvement and sustainable arts practices. We aim to raise awareness for environmental concerns through creating beautiful spaces that inspire awe and admiration for nature as well as provide the time and space for people to reflect upon the emotional impact of environmental degradation - to acknowledge the unspoken grief and loss and to discuss what we can and can’t do about it. 'Spinning a Yarn' can be seen as a kind of knitted requiem to species loss, focusing on the green sea turtle as it’s purl and plain mascot and representing those who cannot speak for themselves.

KnitPiC's vision
Our vision is to create transformative and sustainable arts experiences that invite audiences to become active participants in a dialogue which places the impact of human behaviour on the planet at its core. Our long-term aim is to achieve sustainability for the company across the quadruple bottom line of financial, environmental, social and cultural sustainability so that we can take our work to regional and remote places. Places that would not usually have the chance to experience interdisciplinary work with a minimal carbon footprint - and make a living out of it at the same time, but that's another (fundraising) story....



A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester and a badge.

7 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25

A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester and a badge, a fridge magnet, a good scratch on the back with our LED powered, knit-in-the-dark knitting needles.

20 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25

A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester and a fridge magnet, an individually crafted hand-knitted Knitted One made lovingly by Mrs Polly Ester and a rub down with a velvet glove.

32 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25

A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester and a fridge magnet, an individually crafted hand-knitted Knitted One made lovingly by Mrs Polly Ester and two tickets to 'Spinning a Yarn' in July (for those knot in Sydney, an invitation to join us in an Underwater Knitting Circle via Skype).

12 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25

A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester and a fridge magnet, an individually crafted hand-knitted Knitted One made made lovingly by Mrs Polly Ester, four tickets to 'Spinning a Yarn' AND an exclusive photoshoot with Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester in the cubby house with the Knitted Ones (for those knot in Sydney, a cup of tea and cake with Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester via Skype).

0 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25

A personalised thank you email from Mrs Polly Mer and Mrs Polly Ester, a badge, a frigde magnet, an individually crafted hand-knitted Knitted One made lovingly by Mrs Polly Ester AND your own personalised show in the cubby house (eight tickets) plus photoshoot.

0 chosen

Est. delivery is Apr 25