One of the ladies at the Ashburton Society of the Arts Monday Art and Craft group gave me some unwanted knitting needles for recycling.
What do you do when someone gives you knitting needles? You knit with them. So I started knitting them into a sculpture.
Knitting Needles, metal and plastic knitting needles, 36x10x22 cm
The knitting needles were a mix of individual plastic and metal needles with different colors and sizes. The metal needles were quite pliable and relatively easy to knit with.
Knitting Needles (rear view), metal and plastic knitting needles, 36x10x22 cm
Some of the plastic knitting needles were brittle and so they snapped into multiple pieces and flew around the room when I tried to knit them and so I have threaded them into the weave. Softening the rest of the plastic and metal knitting needles in boiling water helped for coiling them into a ball.
Hand me the money, shredded paper, 10 x 6 x 12 cm + 10 x 22 x 5 cm
I recently shredded years of old bank statements and recycled some of them into these statements of the different hands in economics, trade and giving.
Open handed (right)
Using an outline of my right hand traced onto cardboard, I built up the sculpture, gluing individual strips of shredded bank statements. The right hand is light weight, but firm.
Depending on your politics, you might see those on the political right as tight fisted and money grabbing, but instead I have portrayed the right as open handed, giving and receiving, serving each other. Not a hand out begging, but lending a hand to mutually help each other.
Cardboard from globe box as substructure
Bank statement strips glued to card
Covering more of the palm of the hand
Covering more of the back of the hand
Open palm. Is it waving?
Back of the hand. Is it beckoning?
Open handed detail
Overflowing with coins
Tight fisted (left)
I pasted individual strips of shredded bank statements on my closed left fist and then carefully removed the sculpture and filled the hollow fist with more shredded bank statements before applying further strips to the outside. The left hand is heavier but softer than the right.
Again, depending on your politics, you might see those on the political left with an open hand sharing the wealth and giving to those in need. Instead I have portrayed the left as a fist, raised in angry defiance. Grabbing for money and power at the expense of others.
Raised fist
Fist rising
Grabbing
What is the fist concealing?
Punching?
Detail
The invisible hand
Between the two hand sculptures is an invisible hand. In economics, the invisible hand is a metaphor for unseen forces that move the free market economy. We cannot see what the invisible hand is doing. Perhaps it is open handed, perhaps a closed fist, perhaps something in between giving a rude gesture.
Hands apartHands togetherHand in hand
The Bible has a lot to say about money. This verse is apt.
‘But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ‘
This visual pun came to mind as I was contemplating what to do with my collection of corks.
Cork Screws (close up), cork 50 x 20 x 20 mmMy collection of Cork Screws, photograph.
Cork is difficult to carve, creating chunky shavings and so it is a delicate and time consuming process. I attempted to carve one cork which claimed to be recyclable and seemed to be made from a kind of rubberized paper material. It was very difficult to effectively work with and so if you want to carve your own cork screws, stick to the natural corks.
