The Knitting Revolutionary

Sunday, July 18, 2004

Deliver me from Swedish furniture

Yes, Fight Club is one of my favourite movies of all time. Despite the violence. I do have very strong feelings against violence, including onscreen. I make a point not to go to a movie if I've heard it's excessively violent or gruesome (Passion of the Christ, Kill Bill etc). But I admit that this movie is amazing, despite all that.

Anyway, you can see the whole of the song "This is your life" here at House of Lyrics. Top stuff. It's as moving as it is cynical. So. Can people really be individuals? Or are we destined to fill our home with hideous IKEA furniture?

This train of thought has been brought on by a few things - the individuality/creativity in knitting debate, and the fact that my kitchen is falling to pieces and has to be replaced. Since I have absolutely no money (full time student) it's going to have to be as cheap as I can get it- i.e. IKEA. Yay. I'm sure I'll survive.

Individuality is a strange thing. I think the most important thing to think is not the rather abstract concept of "individuality" itself, which can never truly be achieved, considering the diversity of humanity. No, the important thing is a person's self-concept of their own individuality.

The thing about it is this: back home in Cessnock, if you wear all black clothing and don't listen to mainstream music, you're hugely individualistic, and highly innovative.

In Newtown, you're just one of the crowd.

I consider myself quite creative in general. I like to buy my clothes from second hand stores, so that I actually do look different. I like to draw, and make things, and all that sort of stuff. But... if I'm knitting things from patterns which other people have designed, am I really creating something?

I recall a heated conversation with an ex flatmate who considered himself quite the artist. I proclaimed my self-concept of individuality, which he snorted at in disdain - how could I consider myself creative, he asked, if I didn't make the patterns up myself?

Okay. Score one-nil to ex-flatmate.

But what if I modify the pattern? What if I use highly innovative colour combinations? What if it ends up looking completely different to the picture on the pattern brochure? What if it looks exactly the same???

So, to reiterate, the important thing is that a person feels as though their efforts are creative and individual. It's all about the way you look at yourself, I think. And although I have an IKEA floor, tv cupboard, stereo cabinet and (soon) kitchen, am I no longer an individual, creative person?

I think I'm quite vain. But I'm not vain enough to think that there's no-one out there who could very well be me, thus reducing me to the dreaded status of *gasp* just another face in the crowd. Well, I long since realised that I'm not the centre of the universe, but I still consider myself a bit of an individual.

Why? Because I make my own mind up. And I have to admit that sometimes other people come to the same decision as I have. It doesn't, however, make me any less creative, or any less of an individual. Every second person might be knitting an Audrey, or a Rogue, or whatever. But if I decide to knit one, it'll be because I like it, and I want to make it, and most likely wear it.

Oh, and while I'm hopping on hot knit-blog-topics and bandwagons... about the blogger's disclaimer thing? If you don't want people to read about you, don't put it on the internet. I mean, really, get a grip: there's a reason it's called the WORLD WIDE web. Duh. Not to mention, if you don't want it repeated, don't say it. And for gawd's sake, putting it in writing is just plain stupid. Sorry if this puts anyone's little nose out, don't take it personally. My sage advice would be that if you don't want even one person you know to not read it, delete it from your blog. Easy.

There have been a few things I wouldn't blog about, usually because I wouldn't want to put my thoughts about certain people's actions or attitudes up for public viewing. Had a day today which would be great blog fodder if I didn't mind whose feelings I trampled all over, but I'm making an effort here. It doesn't really have to be written about and posted online, however juicy and brimming with the guilty pleasure of gossip.

By all the gods, I can carry on. Congrats (or condolences) to anyone who's actually made it to the end of this diatribe. And don't think any less of me for having a copycat Swedish kitchen, huh?

Posted at 8:22 pm by monnsqueak

	Posted by Wilbur @ 10/06/2004 04:09 AM PDT
	can u knit a sex toy? my g/f would love a dildo. post a message if u know how.

	Posted by Rose @ 07/26/2004 09:33 AM PDT
	If you could tolerate Fight Club, you might do okay with Kill Bill -- I feel similarly about violence in movies, but people I trusted said it was worth seeing, and in fact, the violence was so over the top that it was like watching a cartoon. (A violent cartoon, but nevertheless, not like watching characters you really loved getting hurt.) Anyway, I think there's a lot to be said for knowing when to expend effort on doing something original/individual and knowing when to let IKEA make a nice simple chair.

	Posted by VaxGirl @ 07/20/2004 12:50 AM PDT
	My house is full of Ikea. The clean simple lines fade into the background and let me display all the unique stuff that is me. And even though I could afford fancier, I'd rather spend the money on "funner" stuff. Like travel, books, knitting, sock monkeys, my Pez collection, my gallery of strange canned foods, did I mention books? I think the best part of indivuality is actually taking something mundane and making it yours.

	Posted by Adele @ 07/19/2004 10:27 AM PDT
	(Sorry, the last post was by me. D'oh!) And what's all the fuss about individuality, anyway? Isn't there a bumper sticker, I'm an individual just like everyone else? Humans are a pack animal and popularity probably requres a degree of confirmity, even if that is confirming to a desire to rebel.

	Posted by Name @ 07/19/2004 10:20 AM PDT
	I was about to say the same thing, Knitwitch, only you've put it better than I could have. "Creative" is an adjective for creating something, which is what I'm doing when I'm knitting. QED. Even if the pattern is designed by someone else and the wool is spun in a factory, my handiwork, colour choice and micro-amendments will make it different to anyone else's. The same thing applies to your kitchen, Mon. It may be mass-produced but it's your choice of doorknobs, your goddess statue in the corner and the way it interacts with your living room that makes it individual.

	Posted by Monica... @ 07/19/2004 09:35 AM PDT
	mmm, actually the "definition" of creativity is to make or design something completely new. I can admit that I believe (opinion, yes) that knitting is less "truly creative" than cutting edge art or fine art. But what I object to is the denial that knitting, sewing, and "craft-arts" have no creativity involved at all. That's why I believe it's the choice involved that makes the work creative. You might choose exactly the same thing as someone else, but have arrived at it by your own decision, based on what you yourself like. This is creativity, this is originality. I saw a cartoon which had three punk rockers, identically dressed in black with pins and mohawks, and one is saying to the other two: "I only dress like this to be different". So this is the watered down creativity that I object to. No one is ever going to truly be original or individual. But you can make your own choices, and therein lies originality.

	Posted by Robbyn @ 07/19/2004 12:41 AM PDT
	No worries about the IKEA kitchen, Monica. No one worth their salt is going to think the shape of your furniture is reflective of anything significant :)

	Posted by Knitwitch @ 07/18/2004 09:11 PM PDT
	Great entry! However, I disagree with you about your ex-flatmate earning that point. I think he wound up proving your point for you! How? By his statement/question of, "how could I consider myself creative, he asked, if I didn't make the patterns up myself?" Very easy... YOU choose the pattern to begin with, starting yourself on your personal creative journey toward something created out of nothing. (The inspiration can come from anywhere) YOU choose the yarn/thread that you want to use in your creation; stemming from a pile of fiber into something totally unique because you are also totally unique and are creating it. YOU choose the colors/texture of the yarn, adding your own spice to this creation. If the "pattern" of a fiber artist, and the "canvas/supplies" of a painter/sketch artist are looked at as the "foundation of a creative journey", then the next time someone like your ex-flatmate says something like that? Ask them if THEY make the paper/canvas that they use? Do THEY, make the paint/ charcoal/ brushes that they use? After all, if they didn't make it, they can't be creative, right?

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