Knitting stunt leaves Taylor Square in stitches
- Author:
- Angus Thompson
- Posted:
- Thursday, 13 August 2009
First it was a tank in Denmark, then a petrol station in New York State before a bus in Mexico was also hit. Now the men’s toilets in Taylor Square have become the latest target of guerrilla knitting attacks around the world.
Last Saturday local ‘graffiti knitter’ Denise Litchfield set out to cover the above-ground surrounds of the former Men’s Convenience public toilets in patches of gold, red and white cotton wool, and even attached a plush condom vending machine to the plythe.
‘The Knitted Convenience’ was staged as part of the Sydney Design 09 festival and is Sydney’s first major outdoor knitting installation.
Ms Litchfield has made her mark on sign poles, parking meters and trees around Newtown but had her sights set on a bigger stunt, originally targeting Ken Unsworth’s ‘Stones Against The Sky (Kings Cross’s affectionately known Poo on Sticks).
“It was great because I had my eyes on a bigger prize – a bit like those little chipmunks from a Bugs Bunny cartoon. You know, where they jump from the peanut to the Brazil nut to the coconut,” she said.
“I’ve always thought the toilet was a good spot for a lot of reasons, because it’s… generally ignored and it’s quite a beautiful piece of architecture and history, too.”
Ms Litchfield was recently invited to create a major knitting installation out the front of the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra with the founder of the global Knitta Please movement, Magda Sayeg.
Ms Litchfield and a cohort of 11 other guerrillas spent the whole of Saturday installing the piece designed to playfully greet locals, tourists and partygoers.
The material from the event will be made into blankets and donated to an inner city charity.
Guerrilla knitter Denise Litchfield gives Taylor Square the soft touch
Story posted on Thursday, 13 August 2009, filed under City News. Follow responses via the RSS feed.
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