Yarn Bombed!

It’s official. Arts Benicia has been yarn bombed by BSIK – the Benicia Sisters in Knitting.  We don’t know just who they are, or where they’ll strike next, but these guerrilla knitters have given us a great gift.

If you’re like us and had never heard of yarn bombing before today, here’s the low down.  Yarn bombing (also known as  yarnbombing, graffiti knitting or yarnstorming ) is a type of temporary street installation that utilizes crocheted or knitted materials thought to have originated in Houston, TX. While yarn bombing is often interpreted as an attempt to reclaim a or personalize a space, we feel this  speaks to the tightly woven arts community not just in the arsenal district, but in Benicia as well.

While some places get a door handle cozy or a an exploding tube of color slinking down a pole in the neighborhood, we discovered over 70 individual little knit bombs draped from the railing outside the gallery door when we came in to work today. They sway and tinker in the breeze, beckoning the passersby  into the gallery like a stream of renegade secular prayer flags adorning a temple, and we love them.

We don’t  know how long these  little bombs will be with us.  A day? A week? A month? Until the rain comes? We suspect they’ll vanish in the dead of night, as quietly as they came. But they’re here now, and they are beautiful.

ABAIR Update: Open Hours are Over

With only a few days left before the opening, every moment counts as artists John Ruszel and Alex Potts work to complete their installation pieces. Here are a few photos from the last day of the project’s open hours:

In Ruszel’s work, long strings span the length of the gallery, connecting two large sculptures which hang on opposing walls.

 

Potts continues to work with gourds, fashioning them into interactive pieces by placing speakers and motion detectors inside of them.

The exhibition will open this Thursday, August 12, with a reception at 7:00 pm, and will continue through Friday, August 20th. There will also be an artist talk on Saturday, August 21 at 1:00 pm, where John Ruszel and Alex Potts will discuss this work and their processes with the public.