Art group casts off woolly stereotypes

Grannies and old maids knit; Young hoodlums do graffiti, right? Wrong.

Go along to the Saturday markets in Kings Cross and you’ll find an eclectic group of artists, baristas, musicians, a chef and various locals happily knitting, chatting and getting to know each other while creating ‘woollen graffiti’ to be installed in the Cross as part of this year’s Art & About. Yes, on Saturday there was even a grannie there too, casting off stereotypes.

This is one kind of graffiti the City of Sydney approves of – it is sponsoring the event ‘I Heart KX’ which is the brainchild of Michelle McCosker and Alasdair Nicol AKA  Reef Knot, an art installation collective. The woollen graffiti will be installed on trees, telegraph poles, street sign posts and miscellaneous public objects in the Cross.

“Wool graffiti is a new worldwide movement, kind of tagging with wool,” said Ms McCosker. “It’s a lot more environmentally friendly than spraypaint.” The old underground toilets in Taylor Square currently sport giant knitted condoms, the product of a separate project.

The Saturday group welcomes more knitters including crotchers, finger knitters, weavers, felters, macrame-ers, pom-pom makers and even French-knitters. All materials are supplied although any spare wool you may have is welcome.

Knitting virgins are welcome too, with all sorts of expertise on hand to help you get nifty with the needles. Just turn up on Saturday mornings until 26 September on the lawn near the El Alamein Fountain. If it’s raining the group will move to the Activity Centre in the nearby Rex Building (entrance next to Maggies Restaurant). You can visit them virtually at iheartkx.wordpress.com.

by Michael Gormly