Knitting and Knitting… I Need You

The video, Knitting, was created by Marie Christine Katz, Nosrat Nosratian, and Dolla Sapeta in collaboration during our 2011 Art Omi residency. Following a thread leading to an unexpected moment in two people’s lives.  

This work led me to create Knitting… I Need You, developed during public actions leading to participatory performances. 

The public action: I sit or walk around and knit; if people, passersby, seem interested, I’ll offer them some introductory knitting lesson. Together we will knit and chat, exchange stories. At various moments throughout the days, I will perform shorts monologues that are stories by themselves. Yet, if someone were to hear each one of the monologues, he/she would gain an understanding of an entire story. In addition, I will insert elements of stories told to me during the previous knitting session within each of the monologues. During the performances, I’ll present you with a request. I need you; I need you to imagine… Those words will be the beginning of each performance; as I perform, the Knitting I worked on with the public will unravel.  

By offering interested people to teach them basic knitting techniques, it creates an opportunity to spend some time with each other and exchange stories, communicate and develop a sense of connection. The stories told to me will affect my following monologue. I involve the public in the knitting aspect and merge stories into monologues I perform in various settings.