Your identity is being stolen. We have the power to stop that. Knit us a balaclava and send it to us.
Your work and name will become part of an international exhibition protesting against a new form of surveillance technology.
"Non-collaborative photography" allows the government or private organizations to take a 3D image of anyone without their knowledge.
In the spirit of the 'Tricoteuse', the nickname given to the women who sat beside the guillotine during public executions in Paris in the French Revolution, who continued to knit in between executions as an act of protest. We call on you to knit or crochet balaclavas, in any form, colour or shape as long as they resemble a balaclava.
These are in fact the only device that eludes or fools this new technology. As each piece is complete it will form part of the display in the museum and the artist will be credited. the first incarnation will take place on March 21st at FoMu in Antwerp.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/knittersneeded/
Please send your balaclava to our studio:
7 Princelet Street
E1 6QH
London, UK
Remember to put your name so we can credit you!
If this is of any interest please be in touch and please join this facebook group.
By the way, a little bit of history about the Balaclava; during the siege of Sevastopol, in the terrible winter of 1854 British troops were held up in the little port of Balaclava. They were running short of food and supplies, and soon began to suffer from starvation and frostbite. Reports from the battlefield began to reach Britain; the commissariat sent out protective clothing in the form of a hood which covered the top of the head and exposed just two eyes above a nose above a mouth.
Adam Broomberg was born in South Africa in 1970; Oliver Chanarin, born in England in 1971. They both live in London and have been collaborating for over a decade. Together they teach at the Zurich University of the Arts and are Visiting Fellows at the University of the Arts London. Their work is represented in major public and private collections including Tate Modern, the Stedelijk Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Musee de l’Elysee and the International Center of Photography. They are the recipients of numerous awards, including the Vic Odden Award from the Royal Photographic Society and are trustees of the Photographers’ Gallery and Photoworks in the UK. Most recently they were the winners of the celebrated Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, with their project 'War Primer II'. Broomberg and Chanarin’s photography takes the form of formal, methodical projects that challenge the relationship between photographer and subject. As a result, they present a subversive interpretation of documentation, most notably around the themes of history, war and society.
