"There is no separation between her art and her life."

May 26, 2011 7:06 AM

Think you love to crochet? I can guarantee you’re not a patch on Polish-born New York artist Agata Oleksiak, now known as Olek. Olek has covered everything in her apartment with its own custom-made crocheted sweater, and a installation of those items is on display at the Christopher Henry Gallery in Nolita until May 28. She’s also done people, bicycles, cars, windows in abandoned buildings, the bull on Wall Street, and pretty much anything else that would stay still long enough. She keeps track of her crocheting time by counting the number of movies she watches while making an item. I notice she uses variegated acrylic, which is the cheapest yarn on the market. I always wondered who was still buying that "ugly afghan" yarn.
posted by orange swan (27 comments total)

will my vision return, or is it gone forever.

needs a NSFE (not safe for eyes) tag
posted by tomswift at 7:09 AM on May 26, 2011

I love this woman and her art. And I definitely want one of her yarn suits. I would rock the hell out of it.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:18 AM on May 26, 2011

The 3D is not for me but I LOVE the Banksy tribute.
posted by acidic at 7:19 AM on May 26, 2011

I now have something to aspire to.

I won't JUST be the crazy cat lady. I can also be the crazy CROCHETING cat lady!

Look out statues and monuments!
posted by jillithd at 7:20 AM on May 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oh man, I want a person-cozy. Probably without the head part, though. Looks super warm.
posted by phunniemee at 7:20 AM on May 26, 2011

Oh man. Those person-cozies look amazingly warm. I could so go for one.

Also, I want a couch cover by her. It would be awesome.
posted by strixus at 7:27 AM on May 26, 2011

The pink bull of wall street is my personal fave. I wonder how long it stayed like that.
posted by dejah420 at 7:28 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

According to one of the articles I skimmed through while researching this post, about two hours, dejah420.
posted by orange swan at 7:30 AM on May 26, 2011

She must be a fast crocheter! The bull is great, a perfectly fitting shroud. The ladder and torso in the fourth link look more like pompom balls than crochet, to me.
posted by francesca too at 7:31 AM on May 26, 2011

Do you know how expensive hand dyed rabbit/wool/alpaca yarn blends are? Crochet is an expensive hobby unless you use the fake stuff.
posted by wierdo at 7:32 AM on May 26, 2011 [2 favorites]

The pink bull of wall street is my personal fave. I wonder how long it stayed like that.

Two hours.
posted by chundo at 7:53 AM on May 26, 2011

Yarn-bombed. Fun new term.
posted by nickyskye at 8:02 AM on May 26, 2011

Wow, gorgeous pictures. Even if my ludicrously wimpy skin is getting carpet burn just from my looking at them.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 8:07 AM on May 26, 2011

Do you know how expensive hand dyed rabbit/wool/alpaca yarn blends are? Crochet is an expensive hobby unless you use the fake stuff.

Oh, of course. And given the sheer volume of yarn Olek would use, yes, she would have to use the cheapest yarn available in order to see a profit.
posted by orange swan at 8:11 AM on May 26, 2011

MY EYES! The goggles do nothing!!
posted by Kimberly at 8:11 AM on May 26, 2011

Olek gave some pretty douchey comments in the recent NYTimes yarn bombing piece. Basically only her yarn art is art. Others are just crafts. It was a little off putting.
posted by telegraph at 8:34 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

My aunt covered her house with newspapers. Does that count for something?
posted by orme at 8:54 AM on May 26, 2011

I too like the Pink Bull. I would have awarded serious bonus points for some kind of bear image pattern on it.

I fully approve of using acrylic yarn on inanimate objects. Just keep it the hell away from my skin. I love wool sweaters, even cheap scratchy wool. But I can only put acrylic on for like 2 minutes before I feel like I'm going to turn into a sweat ball.
posted by BrotherCaine at 8:57 AM on May 26, 2011

Our library won a book truck in the Pimp My Book Cart contest for their totally awesome yarn-bombed cart. "Bonus: Knitted Dewey Decimal number for knitting!"
posted by epersonae at 9:12 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

I should probably mention that I first heard of this artist on Regretsy.
posted by orange swan at 9:42 AM on May 26, 2011

I'm not a huge fan of Olek's attitude, but I do like her work a lot. Wish she'd go for something more interesting than just tons and tons of double crochet in Red Heart (and in those horrifying color combinations).
posted by asperity at 10:26 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

And as for her speed, we'd all be a lot faster if we didn't bother to weave in ends! Yowza.
posted by asperity at 10:37 AM on May 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pretty impressive, but I still think the only thing that should be crocheted is a bikini.
posted by queensissy at 11:34 AM on May 26, 2011

And as for her speed, we'd all be a lot faster if we didn't bother to weave in ends! Yowza.

At least if I knit instead of crochet I can weave in the ends as I knit.
posted by francesca too at 12:29 PM on May 26, 2011

Useful if you want to live inside an M.I.A. video
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:14 PM on May 26, 2011

I subsequently followed up with this artist and if any of us want a person-cozy, it's $4500 to start.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 3:16 PM on May 26, 2011

Pretty impressive, but I still think the only thing that should be crocheted is a bikini.

I have nothing polite to say to that.
posted by asperity at 9:29 PM on May 26, 2011