A curious thing happens........... for some reason there are lots of plastic toothbrushes washed up on my local beach. Have they fallen overboard?
The block
Just a few final touches to make it strong when suspended.
There will be a surprise at the bottom. Will be seen later when installed.
Length 3m, diameter at top 1.5m.
Crocheted from yarn made from used plastic shopping bags. Kindly donated by women from around the world.
Yes, I think I think it's finished.
Let me introduce Harry.
My little canine friend who follows me around like a shadow. He belongs to my elderly friend, Diana. She is now in a nursing home so Harry stays with me and we visit Diana every week so that she can cuddle Harry. All the residents at the nursing home know Harry and love him. Diana and I have discussed ways of smuggling Harry in at night so that he can sleep on her bed with her. One idea was to dress him up like an old lady in a nightie ....... like the big bad wolf.
Harry helping me finish the Rubbish Vortex:
He is also known as Hairy Harry Harcourt (who had a haircut).
Experimentation plays a big part in making pieces for me. I have so much discarded and unfinished work. Pieces of ideas and unsatisfactory paths. I have no qualms about cutting, ripping or rearranging........ruthless, really.
I'm not capable of following the straight path. Wandering off in all directions is my path.
These embroideries were done some time ago and have been languishing in a box. I cut up an old threadbare teatowel from my huge collection of Op-Shop textiles and embroidered the motifs using preloved cotton embroidery floss. The motifs are an artist's (unknown) interpretation of Australian Aborigines X-ray paintings. The paintings can be found on rocks and in caves. The paints are made from ochre and other beautiful earth pigments. I love the digestive system and other organs. The 2-D quality of the eyes is interesting too. Like many other projects they need some precious time to be completed. Later!
Kangaroo Embroidery. Pre-loved embroidery floss and linen teatowel.
Emu
Goana
Goana (detail)
I took "The Rubbish Vortex" apart yesterday and wore it as a giant wig for a while. It will be assembled again today.
Currently approx. 2.5m long, 1.5m in diameter at top. There will be more fire-coral at the bottom when finished. The photos don't show how the vortex increases in diameter at the top. This is apparent when suspended.
That's a lot-a plastic bags!
When walking along the high-tide mark on the beach, I find plastic detritus swept out of the stormwater drain or washed up from the ocean. It's everywhere. Why so many toothbrushes and cigarette lighters?
These little bits will be incorporated into The Rubbish Vortex. Not sure how yet.
The ball of plastic yarn took me about 6 hours to make. It's the size of a small soccer ball....... that's a lot of plasic bags. I love the feeling of having lots of yarn to crochet. I plonk myself down and wriggle the fingers around entering into a peaceful crochet bliss. All the time saying...... "when I finish this bit I'll take another sip of tea". Hours later, the tea is cold but the Rubbish Vortex has grown.
It's now 2.5m long and it's beginning to get heavy too! I carry it over my shoulder, take it into the garden and look at it for a while, drinking a newly made cup of tea.
Visit the The IFF Flickr photos of the crochet coral reef in Chicago.
Progress on The Rubbish Vortex is gathering speed. Ideas are madly swirling in my mind (many are being discarded for this project but can be used for others). I'm crocheting, sketching, unravelling, trimming, and making yarn madly.
From the sketchbook.
Little red frou-frou's.
Could be turned into a caterpillar....... mmmmmmhhh!
Coral bleaching.
To do: refine the colour transitions/wire?
Studies of different shapes.
I love nodules.
It's running away!
How am I going to transport it in my hand luggage on the flight to LA?
Soooooo busy making............. I can't find the right words. I sit to write and can't find the words to describe what I'm doing and yet so keen to show and tell.
Last night I went to sleep thinking about the Rubbish Vortex........ I came up with some new refinements of the design and I can't wait to start. Feel like a goose getting so excited about making things and yet know if I didn't make things I'd go mad (madder). One day I will be found fused to and part of one of my objects. Blissfully lost in a cloud of creating, smelling the flowers and desparately trying to keep up with the real world.
I look around me and see inspiration everywhere........ life is good!
I see connections in branching patterns everywhere. My circulatory sytem too!
The making of these woolly gems is similar to sketching. I experiment with colour combinations and shapes. These discoveries can be used in the Crochet Sea Creatures series.
What can I say?
I found some words.
The plasic bags are arriving from around the world. Thanks all. I've been making yarn from them and can't wait to start making more sea creatures. The colours sing!
The Rubbish Vortex is growing............ this project is so exciting I can feel my heart squeezing with delight.
The bottom section of the Rubbish Vortex.
It will be a hanging piece (if I can work out how to suspend it).
Diane Haithman from the LA Times wrote an article about the Wertheim sisters from the IFF, and the crochet coral reef. Wow, those two ladies are impressive! The Rubbish Vortex also got a mention. Check it out here.
It has started spinning!
Approximately 500mm in diameter, so far. This will be the main structural body of the vortex. It's crocheted from the very common white plastic shopping bag.
Different pink plastic yarn made from bags sent to me from around the world.
While I was photographing in the garden I noticed my tiny orchid flowering for the second time in 15 years. The individual flowers are only 3mm across. The tri-pot comes from a The Clay Workers Co-operative in Glebe. I lived nearby whilst working at Sydney Uni. I looked at it yesterday as if for the first time and love it as much now as I did then.
photo by Tigger Newling
Slowly and steadily, my thoughts and ideas are becoming clearer. Writing about my work and taking photos has helped me understand why I'm so busy making and collecting things.
I studied biology at university here in Sydney and worked in scientific research for approximately ten years, always feeling like a fish out of water. I then retrained as a horticulturist, and then some years later as an artist. My interests in the natural world, art, science and mathematics are reflected in the things I make. All my skills and interests have merged and I finally feel as if I have found my niche.
Newport Beach with rockpool. Photo by Tigger Newling
The Rubbish Vortex is a collaborative project that I am currently working on. Christine and Margaret Wertheim, co-directors of the Institute for Figuring invited me to create a rubbish vortex for the second phase of the crochet coral reef. It will be exhibited at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), in 2008. The Crochet Coral Reef is currently on exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, until June 17, 2007.
The Rubbish Vortex, or Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is in the North-East Pacific Ocean, just NE of Hawai'i. It's formed by circulating currents of the sub-tropical gyre. In the calm centre of the vortex, plastic accumulates. Check out this great animation of the ocean currents here. As a keen surfer, swimmer and beach comber, it's important to me to preserve the coastal environment and the creatures living in it and bring the problem of plastic pollution to the public's attention. To find out more about the rubbish vortex please visit The IFF website.
Preliminary sketches of my ideas so far. These evolve as I progress....... difficult to say what the final sculpture will look like. Curiously many shapes and themes reappear throughout my work.
I am also expanding the collection of crochet Sea Creatures using the colourful plastic bags I've been receiving from readers of my blog from around the world.
Photos by Tigger Newling
1. Medusa nematocysta (detail), 2. Medusa nematocysta, 3. Cephalopod, 4. Polypod, 5. Polypod 2, 6. Cunjevoi Garden, 7. Hypercoral, 8. Anemonoid
Included in the parcel of plastic bags from Carina was this lovely photo of the Danish Royal family. Both Carina and I were born in Denmark and have English husbands.
Mary Crown Princess, Frederik Crown Prince of Denmark, Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark and Henrik Prince of Denmark. Taken at Amalienborg Palace, the 14th of May, 2004.
Mary was born and bred in Tasmania, Australia. Note the sprig of eucalyptus leaves in her bouquet.
In 2005, "Our Mary", as she's affectionately called here in Australia, and her Crown Prince Frederik, came to Australia for a visit. My father invited myself and my husband to a Royal cocktail party at Guillaume at Bennelong, Sydney Opera House.
It was a beautiful, balmy, late-summer evening. The Opera house looked magical with twinkling lights on the harbour. Approximately 100 expat Danes attended the party, so it was a relatively small gathering. The expat Danish community in Sydney is very small.
The Royal party arrived at the foot of the Opera house with flashing lights and a modest entourage in tow. There was a hushed silence as the Royals entered but a few seconds later many of the guests descended on the couple, like vultures. I felt sorry for them and decided to stay back to give them room to breathe. Mary was dressed in the most exquisite pale lilac, silk suit with a jewel encrusted belt (Oscar de la Renta) looking radiant and beautiful, although, slightly uncomfortable at all the attention. Frederik, boyishly handsome and happy, was chatting away to everyone, being familiar with attention. They looked so in love.
We slowly became "merry" whilst sipping beautiful Tasmanian wine, chatting and watching from a mezzanine level with a good view of the proceedings, including Charlotte Sparre showing her fairytale inspired haute couture dress collection.
As the evening came to an end that weird hushed silence returned. We both turned around and saw the royal couple approaching the rear door and......us. We stretched out our hands as they walked past and Frederik and Mary looked us straight in the eyes and shook hands, saying...... "goodnight, thank you for a lovely evening".
It was such a thrill to have a close encounter with the future King and Queen of Denmark and I felt so proud of my Danish heritage and the special bond between Denmark and Australia.
I will remember that magical evening for the rest of my life. Thanks Dad!
The coloured plastic bags have started arriving from around the world.
Gorgeous orange and ochre bags and a picture of the Danish Royal family from Carina of Wardi.dk in London. Thank you Carina.
A pretty pink bag and two books from Shula of Poppalina in Victoria, Australia.......... very generous! Thanks Shula.
Margaret Wertheim's book " A Field Guide to Hyperbolic Space" is a very stylish publication and an interesting read. Fascinating how Science and Art overlaps. Have always been looking for the elusive connections.
The plastic bags are awaiting the scissors and will be turned into yarn and more crochet sea creatures.
