'Yarns' is a woolen representation of an oral history. It is a pun on the phrase 'to spin a yarn' meaning to tell a story. The work draws on traditional uses of textiles to tell stories. It plays with the long-standing symbolism of yarn as stories, histories and the passage of time.
Symbolism: sharing (women's) stories
Many people know that that “to ‘spin a yarn’ is to tell a tale”. Patriarchal definitions hold ‘spinning yarn’ as “originally a nautical term dating from about 1800”. However Bill Beavis and Richard G. McCloskey suggest these definition overlook the term's older antecedents. They recognise that 'spinning yarn' sounds like a 'salty expression' with many thinking that it originated from wet-weather days when crews 'spinning' together yarns of old rope while telling stories. They go on to claim that "spinning yarn was carried on ashore long before it was at sea" and the phrase 'spinning yarn' was likely a shore expression adopted by seamen. Recognising the phrase's earlier origins, James Briggs associates the term with the female realm whereby “in the old days, women used to spin yarn... frequently… in groups [and]... to pass the time, they often told each other stories…[eventually] the words [coming] to mean the production of the stories themselves”. Since most of my research focused on women sharing their stories (several of whom happened to work with yarn in various ways including spinning, knitting and crochet) these etymological insights affirmed my interest in using yarn to represent oral histories.
Symbolism: the mutability of oral forms
Beyond merely meaning to “tell a story”, the term ‘spinning yarn’ is often associated with the telling of stories which are “long drawn-out or… fanciful” since “to spin a fibre, especially wool, correctly and ensure it remains the right size, length and twist, the spinner has to continually stretch the material”. We might see all oral history as storytelling with the ever-present possibility of stretching the material. There may be minimal stretching or there may be a lot. Stretching may be intended, incidental or accidental. Yarn’s association with stretching emphasises how oral history and interpretation is both flexible and constrained. This mutability is further symbolised in that a scarf could be untied, unravelled and reconfigured: the past is always open to reinterpretation and extension from the same, and additional, material.
Symbolism: passage of time
The work draws upon Mirjam Mencej's article, 'Connecting Threads', on symbolism in ancient European traditions which associated yarn with human existence, growth and the passing of time.
This includes symbolism in which each individual “is spun from un-spun wool… in a wool basket, or womb… spinning continues while a man is still alive… [and when it] stops, a man dies”. Here, there is a “the metaphorical representation of ‘life-span’ as ‘yarn-spun’” and “human life… [is] conceived as a drawn-out thread”. In my artwork, the life-lived is symbolised as 'spun yarn'. The configuration of life-lived into a life-story narrative, is symbolised by the spun yarn being configured into a knitted scarf. Mencej highlights how a similar idea is seen in Classical mythology in Penelope's weaving a shroud for Laertes: Penelope's un-weaving at night that which she wove during the day is interpreted as her attempting to undo time.
Symbolism: oral history linking past and present
Mencej's work explores further traditional symbolism of “spun thread… providing linkage between the world of the living and the world of the dead…, indicating the transition, the link and the liminal space between the two worlds”. This unexpected symbolism, underpinned the use of yarn to represent oral history since oral history may be seen to link, transcend or exist between the worlds of past and present.
The scarfs are arranged in three rows, working inwards towards the faculty.
The first row of nine single-colour scarfs, represents nine people's distinct life-story interview transcripts. Looking closer you will see six different stitch types reappearing through the nine scarfs. Each stitch type represents one of six themes which the interviews centred on. These scarfs look like nine transcripts which have been 'coded'. This means the researcher has taken the transcript and for each theme they are interested in, they have indicated the sections on the transcript where this theme occurs.
In the second row the six themes, each of distinct stitch type, are represented. These scarfs look like 'reports'. This is where the interviewer takes their coded transcripts and creates a document or 'report' for each of their themes. The report draws together all the sections of each (distinctly-coloured) transcript which related to that particular theme (stitch-type).
In the third row, three scarfs look like patchwork. These represent the researcher's historical narrative, which forms different chapters. In this case three chapters. The historical narratives combine the different voices (colours) and themes (stitches). Sometimes two or more colours appear alongside each other; this represents where responses are in agreement.
The three patchwork historical narrative scarfs can aid me in retelling the historical narrative constituting the findings of my research. Due to my familiarity with the historical narratives I can 'read' the combinations of colours and stitch types to retell the narratives. In this respect, the piece draws on the example of the oral tradition of the Ashanti in which leaders can read from Adinkra symbols printed on fabric to retell stories.
Substantive research focus
My research was about the history of home education in England and home schooling and distributed learning in British Columbia (BC) from the 1970s to the present.
Symbolism: sharing (women's) stories
Many people know that that “to ‘spin a yarn’ is to tell a tale”. Patriarchal definitions hold ‘spinning yarn’ as “originally a nautical term dating from about 1800”. However Bill Beavis and Richard G. McCloskey suggest these definition overlook the term's older antecedents. They recognise that 'spinning yarn' sounds like a 'salty expression' with many thinking that it originated from wet-weather days when crews 'spinning' together yarns of old rope while telling stories. They go on to claim that "spinning yarn was carried on ashore long before it was at sea" and the phrase 'spinning yarn' was likely a shore expression adopted by seamen. Recognising the phrase's earlier origins, James Briggs associates the term with the female realm whereby “in the old days, women used to spin yarn... frequently… in groups [and]... to pass the time, they often told each other stories…[eventually] the words [coming] to mean the production of the stories themselves”. Since most of my research focused on women sharing their stories (several of whom happened to work with yarn in various ways including spinning, knitting and crochet) these etymological insights affirmed my interest in using yarn to represent oral histories.
Symbolism: the mutability of oral forms
Beyond merely meaning to “tell a story”, the term ‘spinning yarn’ is often associated with the telling of stories which are “long drawn-out or… fanciful” since “to spin a fibre, especially wool, correctly and ensure it remains the right size, length and twist, the spinner has to continually stretch the material”. We might see all oral history as storytelling with the ever-present possibility of stretching the material. There may be minimal stretching or there may be a lot. Stretching may be intended, incidental or accidental. Yarn’s association with stretching emphasises how oral history and interpretation is both flexible and constrained. This mutability is further symbolised in that a scarf could be untied, unravelled and reconfigured: the past is always open to reinterpretation and extension from the same, and additional, material.
Symbolism: passage of time
The work draws upon Mirjam Mencej's article, 'Connecting Threads', on symbolism in ancient European traditions which associated yarn with human existence, growth and the passing of time.
This includes symbolism in which each individual “is spun from un-spun wool… in a wool basket, or womb… spinning continues while a man is still alive… [and when it] stops, a man dies”. Here, there is a “the metaphorical representation of ‘life-span’ as ‘yarn-spun’” and “human life… [is] conceived as a drawn-out thread”. In my artwork, the life-lived is symbolised as 'spun yarn'. The configuration of life-lived into a life-story narrative, is symbolised by the spun yarn being configured into a knitted scarf. Mencej highlights how a similar idea is seen in Classical mythology in Penelope's weaving a shroud for Laertes: Penelope's un-weaving at night that which she wove during the day is interpreted as her attempting to undo time.
Symbolism: oral history linking past and present
Mencej's work explores further traditional symbolism of “spun thread… providing linkage between the world of the living and the world of the dead…, indicating the transition, the link and the liminal space between the two worlds”. This unexpected symbolism, underpinned the use of yarn to represent oral history since oral history may be seen to link, transcend or exist between the worlds of past and present.
How these eighteen scarfs represent oral history methodology
Each colour symbolises a different person. The yarn symbolises their lived experience. The knitted scarfs symbolise the configuration of their lived experiences into a narrative.The scarfs are arranged in three rows, working inwards towards the faculty.
The first row of nine single-colour scarfs, represents nine people's distinct life-story interview transcripts. Looking closer you will see six different stitch types reappearing through the nine scarfs. Each stitch type represents one of six themes which the interviews centred on. These scarfs look like nine transcripts which have been 'coded'. This means the researcher has taken the transcript and for each theme they are interested in, they have indicated the sections on the transcript where this theme occurs.
In the second row the six themes, each of distinct stitch type, are represented. These scarfs look like 'reports'. This is where the interviewer takes their coded transcripts and creates a document or 'report' for each of their themes. The report draws together all the sections of each (distinctly-coloured) transcript which related to that particular theme (stitch-type).
In the third row, three scarfs look like patchwork. These represent the researcher's historical narrative, which forms different chapters. In this case three chapters. The historical narratives combine the different voices (colours) and themes (stitches). Sometimes two or more colours appear alongside each other; this represents where responses are in agreement.
The three patchwork historical narrative scarfs can aid me in retelling the historical narrative constituting the findings of my research. Due to my familiarity with the historical narratives I can 'read' the combinations of colours and stitch types to retell the narratives. In this respect, the piece draws on the example of the oral tradition of the Ashanti in which leaders can read from Adinkra symbols printed on fabric to retell stories.
Substantive research focus
My research was about the history of home education in England and home schooling and distributed learning in British Columbia (BC) from the 1970s to the present.
The nine colours represent nine parents who were interviewed from different families in BC and England. The list below shows colours from each country together with the decade in which they started home educating, home schooling or distributed learning:
BC: Red 1970s; Yellow 1980s; Mauve 1990s; Pink 1990s; Green 2000s.
England: Tuquoise 1970s; Lime 1980s; Orange 1990s; Navy 2000s.
The themes were: practices and provisions (triple crochet), motivations (chain crochet), support groups (long crochet), social context (single crochet), legal context in British Columbia (stocking knit) and legal context in England (knit).
The three scarfs in the third row represent narratives of the history of home education in England (turquoise, lime, orange & navy), the history of home schooling and distributed learning in British Columbia (red, yellow, mauve, pink, green), and a comparison of the two histories (all the colours).
For more on the inspiration and the political meaning of this artwork click here.
To follow on Twitter, click here.
BC: Red 1970s; Yellow 1980s; Mauve 1990s; Pink 1990s; Green 2000s.
England: Tuquoise 1970s; Lime 1980s; Orange 1990s; Navy 2000s.
The themes were: practices and provisions (triple crochet), motivations (chain crochet), support groups (long crochet), social context (single crochet), legal context in British Columbia (stocking knit) and legal context in England (knit).
The three scarfs in the third row represent narratives of the history of home education in England (turquoise, lime, orange & navy), the history of home schooling and distributed learning in British Columbia (red, yellow, mauve, pink, green), and a comparison of the two histories (all the colours).
For more on the inspiration and the political meaning of this artwork click here.
To follow on Twitter, click here.
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