Star

Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

The Big Knit goes up

By Charlene Gatt

1st December 2009 11:05:14 AM

THE Footscray Stockbridge was transformed into a giant pink and orange spectacle last week for the Big West’s Big Knit extravaganza – only to be torn down on Friday in a shocking act of vandalism.

Internationally renowned US sculptor Dave Cole and a team of 30 professional artists and local community members spent six days knitting the bridge into a colourful, tactile and playful piece of art.

Over a kilometre of PVC barrier tape was used to cover the 80-metre bridge. Mr Cole and the team were pushed to their limits last week when wild weather saw the start of the installation pushed back from Saturday to Tuesday.

Meanwhile, dedicated knitters across the West clicked their knitting needles into a frenzy to create large and miniature designs to “graffiti” Footscray with.

“I wanted to come up with something that was as bright as possible against the landscape,” Mr Cole said last week.

“I love it. Footscray’s a fabulous place to work. Big Fish donated studio space to the festival for us to use and they’re just fabulous.”

Mr Cole is best known for his works Fibreglass Teddy Bear, in which he created a gigantic teddy bear made of pink fibreglass construction insulation, and Knitting Machine, where he used John Deere excavators to purl rolls of red, white and blue felt into a huge American flag.

Residents were due to celebrate the bridge’s makeover with a dance-off across the bridge in homage to Flashdance on Saturday, the film that made a star of the ultimate knitted fashion statement, the leg warmer.

However, an overnight act of vandalism on Friday night saw the $40,000 installation ripped to shreds.

It is believed vandals spent up to two hours cutting ties and parts of the work sometime between 11pm Friday night and 6am Saturday. Police believe scissors or a knife was used to damage the work.

Big West organiser Karen Hadfield was devastated by the act.

The bridge was one of the highlights of the 10-day Big West festival. Other events included The Big Backyard, Home is where… workshops and the Heartland Mix Concert.