Like it. Lump it. We Are All Connected. (2019)

By

Beth Barlow

Photograph of artwork. [Caption: ‘Like it. Lump it. We are all connected’ (Full work). Medium - yarn. Size - 400cm x 350cm.]

"Like It. Lump It. We Are All Connected" was an installation which grew through the endeavours of artist Beth Barlow's and several community groups who set about crocheting the news.

Each person took a story from national, international or local news which interested them. They created a circle in yarns and styles which represented the story. The over arching theme of the work was the interconnected nature of each story so time was taken to position the work in relation to other stories, stitching threads between stories across the work. The work was shown in five spaces and at the end Beth and George Evans created this spoof newspaper. The publication has duel uses. Firstly to explore the ideas which grew through the project and secondly as a diagram which can be laid out flat to see the work and its stories.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/338753417328286/

To read the ‘zine, ‘Crocheting The News’, click the PDF below:

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Beth Barlow

Beth Barlow has worked as a socially engaged artist since gaining a 1:1 fine art degree and later an MA. Her MA looked at social interactions within the common room of a local hostel and also online in chat rooms. Here her work manifested as very small interventions and a publication. For two years she abstained from making objects and took all her artwork online and none material based. The germs of her works grow from social ideas and materialise in a whole host of relevant mediums. She has staged 2 large scale project using yarn. "Knit A Year" where people knitted their moods for a year and contributed their strands and stories to group exhibitions and "Like It. Lump It. We Are All Connected". Using yarn allows Beth to engage with those who might not ordinarily align themselves with conceptual art. Through the slow comfortable pastime of knitting or crochet people can explore deep issues in a less confrontational manner. Other large scale projects have culminated in gifting shops where everything was created, given and taken for free and "Starvation Diet" where weight was lost, money saved given to charity and the process documented through spoof artefacts. Beth's current project is looking at Facebook posts and uses painting to explore how people's personal photo posts have altered during 2020. She has also worked with underworked artists to set up remote art classes to help those isolated now and ongoing.

www.bethbarlow.com