A friend sent me these photos of a yarn bombing and news of
a special tour that will take place on Sunday, February 17, 2013, at The Sleepy
Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York (http://www.showclix.com/event/3744104)
This yarn bombing is slightly different as it was done with permission in
advance from the cemetery. Click on the photos for larger images.
I am mentioning it here as the cemetery is of great
historical interest in many different ways, three of them being that it is an
outstanding example of the 19th century American rural cemetery
movement, the resting place of many internationally famous people and prominent
local citizens, and features the work of many interesting artists. The selected
statues and monuments for this exercise, almost all of them from the mid to
late 19th century, were, of course, treated with great respect. They
were also very carefully chosen, condition being the primary factor. In spite
of being made of various kinds of hard and durable materials, they are, in fact
quite fragile. The weight of a lacy knitted cloak on a pair of broken, jagged
wings, let alone wings that are still in their full glory, had to be assessed.
Would flapping or soggy garments put pressure on weatherbeaten hands, arms and
heads? “Dressed” figures all received garments and accessories that were two or
three sizes too big for them as stone hair does not crush down under a knitted
cap nor can stone hands bend and flex to put on mittens. How best to dress or
decorate the non or semi-freestanding figures, who are too high up in various
ways (“Don’t climb on the statues and monuments!”), or who had only doors to a mausoleum to decorate and absolutely had
to be included? There was lots and lots of planning, discussion, and
evaluation, much of it outside in the very cold and changeable winter weather,
and then, of course, there was all of the knitted, crocheted and woven hats,
mittens, cloaks, cosy, flags, garlands, and scarves.
So here are a few more of the results. This canon sits on a
lookout point. The Manhattan skyline can be seen from here today as was the
city and its northern approach in Revolutionary times.
The graves of three little children who perished in a winter
ice accident. Their shared tombstone has a lily, rose, and violets over each
of their names, hence the choice of colours for the mittens.
I have no doubt that more photographs of the rest of this yarn bombing will soon appear on the website of the
cemetery and elsewhere on the internet.
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