Last year, my friend Orla and I made a peice for a show in Sligo at The Model (gallery) called Solo: Do your own thing . The brief was simple: make a site-specific work involving ’sheep’. We took this loosely.
Here you can see a close-up. We made a green crocheted landscape in the Bar Bazaar cafe shop window; these were meant to look like field lines from above. And we had a basket of wound up wool in the cafe and invited passersby and people sitting in the cafe to make their own pom-pom sheep and hang it! We put up two or three to start, and were so happy to see people making their own ’sheep’ as the weeks went on. (see more pictures of other works in solo05)
When we were preparing the work, Orla and I spent an afternoon trying to figure out the best way to prepare it so people would be able to make their own pom-poms. I tend to over-think most things, I’m more concerned with “What is the RIGHT way to get this done?” I had started cutting out individual pom-pom templates out of cardboard. Orla has a more relaxed: “What is the EASIEST way to get this done?” It was our first time ‘collaborating’ and it was an eye opener for me.
After some more research we stumbled upon the most obvious, simple and effective way! Just wrap it around your fingers, tie around the middle and snip! I just saw some more clear instructions online at Bella Dia. She has photos there. (Orla and I had made line drawings and photocopied them).
I think it was a reminder for me that effective does not always mean perfect. Yes it would have been great to send everyone home with their own pom-pom template, but really this would have been a pain in the butt. And I think the final result is more charming; some are big or small depending on who made it.
