(Art)

It's so true it's trite: you always think up a good question or a witty remark long after the event is over, usually when brushing your teeth before going to bed, or as in my case, walking down the avenue chomping on the last empanada left at La Isla.

Tonite Lynn and I went to a talk at the Museum of Art and Design and to see the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting show, so as not to be the last knitters in the greater metropolitan area to see it. Let me get this off my substantial chest right now: the show is eh. I liked the pieces that were about knitting, like the very small intarsia sweaters done by Althea Merback and the garments for poor people knitted out of financial newspapers by I forget which artist. I liked Bobbin Lace Lamp, knitted with fiber optic cable, so much I was ready to knit one of my own, until John told me that I'd have to buy the cable at Radio Shack , and you know I'd rather stick a knitting needle in my eye than go there.

Three panelists spoke tonite on alternative yarns but the one I had the question for was Dave Cole. I was only familar with this piece he did at Mass MoCA using two John Deere cherry pickers, some telephone poles and I would like to think acrylic yarn from Woolworths, since that is my idea of real alternative knitting material.

You can check out his site for more information on how he works, but he talked about knitting with lead, kevlar, extension cords, steel wool, fiberglass insulation...you know, manly things. Then, he passed around some of the knitting needles he made out of...screwdrivers, tent pegs, stakes, pipes. More manly things.

And he had to use a lot of protective equipment for his knitting, like asbestos handling bags and respirator masks and, just like me, wrist splints.

Then, he passed around some knitting needles that had ceramic hand grenades at the unpointy end, presumably so that the lead stitches didn't fall off when he was knitting on the subway.

So the question I want to ask him - and if he has a good publicist that is trolling blogland for mentions of this lecture, please pass this on to him - does he have a gender point to make here? Is he telling us that as a man, he can only justify knitting as a medium for his pieces because he uses butch materials?

Also: does he play golf?