Mindy J. and Andrea F. sent in a really interesting project by artist Nathan Vincent. Vincent recreates masculine items and ideas with feminine crafts in order to upset the gender binary. He explains:
My work explores gender permissions and the challenges that arise from straying from the prescribed norms. It questions the qualities of gender by considering what constitutes masculine and feminine. It critiques stereotypical gender mediums by creating “masculine objects” using “feminine processes” such as crochet, sewing, and applique.
For example:
More examples of his work at his site.
Comments 31
triangulum — June 17, 2010
This is amazing ^^ Love it.
ducky — June 17, 2010
I wonder it he will do the reverse for his next project female icona made with male dominated materials tampons made of metal with fur applicators!
highlyirritable — June 17, 2010
Ducky, the tampon would have a rocket launch applicator.
Meera — June 17, 2010
This is wonderful! Great concept and very skillful execution!
ow — June 17, 2010
Love this!!
highlyirritable - HA so right! Hilarious.
Otogizoshi — June 17, 2010
This is brilliant!
b — June 17, 2010
I could see this stuff being taken in the wrong direction by certain audiences - as making it (or trying to make it) "okay" for guys to do feminine crafts by "manning up" the product you're creating. As though the only way for those crafts to be acceptable for men to participate in is by creating some ironic, humorous, manly thing with them.
TIFFANY — June 17, 2010
Wow, I absolutely love his work. I would love to buy some of his pieces.
Samantha C — June 17, 2010
That's really interesting. I'm impressed by his technical skill as well as the idea of it. And that's got to be the cutest bear rug i've ever seen. I got to the crushed beer can and just stared at the screen trying to figure out how that shape can happen.
Kunoichi — June 17, 2010
As a crocheter myself, dabbling in dimensional objects, I can totally appreciate the still needed to do this. But I'm afraid I don't quite get the gender associations. What's the big deal? Perhaps because I've seen too many others doing it, if not necessarily on such a large, public scale. I find myself thinking of other areas where, if women do it, it's orginary, but if men do it, suddenly becomes art. ie: women are cooks, but men are chefs, that sort of thing. I can't help but feel it's little more than a marketing schtick. Why is a man that crochets a gun or a lawnmower a statement on gender, but a woman doing crochet taxidermy isn't?
Though if men doing fabulous crochet is something you want to check out, I just have to put in a plug for one of my favorite artists at WooWork. Amazingly, he's only been doing it for a couple of years!
Mickey — June 17, 2010
The only thing remarkable about this art is the fact that in trying to make some kind of point, by using crochet to feminize objects associated with masculinity or maleness he is failing to recognize his own tacit assumption that crochet is feminine.
avc27 — June 17, 2010
I love that because the items are created with crochet, their textures are also decidedly coded as feminine compared to the original item. To create soft and squishy guns, for example, is to instantly disarm them. This is another way that the artist is undermining the way our society thinks about these "masculine" items.
Eve — June 17, 2010
This gets done and redone about a hundred times every year. Tank, Ferrari, guns, etc.
Nona — June 17, 2010
Haha, the tighty-whitey doily is priceless!
ms.bec — June 18, 2010
Gorgeous Work. Thanks for sharing it with us
mrs.brown — June 18, 2010
i love it! what about a girl turning masculine things into feminine things?? that would be so interesting!!!
Alice — June 18, 2010
This is really great conceptually (even if I'm not really a fan of it stylistically). I can't help but wonder what the response would have been if the artist had been female. Maybe not on this website, but in the art world. The same? Sillier? More serious?..
A Series Of Knitted Masculine Masterpieces « — June 18, 2010
[...] Sociological Images recently highlighted Nathan; a knitter with a mission to challenge prescribed gender norms by using feminine methods to make masculine works. His artwork ranges from 007 (double-0-7) doilies, to an entirely knitted lazy-boy recliner and television set. On a socially conscious level, I commend what he has set out to do with his artwork. It’s simple, humorous, and expertly executed. On a personal level, I now believe whats missing from my life is a knitted antelope mount. [...]
Ames — June 18, 2010
Clever. But that very thing is what has given many people a jaundiced view of conceptual art - too many artists go for the merely clever, then for cover, they do a bunch of tap dancing, hand waiving, and pseudo-intellectualizing in their statements about the work.
The assumptions he pins this work on are so banal and trite, the interrogation of gender he's attempting doesn't hold up. This work might have been very powerful in the 40's or 50's. Now it's just re-tread. He can't even pull off irony (which is the other way conceptual artists get around going beyond the obvious to something more demanding of themselves and an audience). A good mentor or teacher would have told him, yeah, clever idea, now figure out how to go beyond your first shallow idea.
Questioning gender is a great thing for artists to be doing, and far too few are, but to be useful it will have to be a whole lot more insightful than this.
Sadie — June 18, 2010
I love it. Totally want that lawn mower, and the y-front doilies. And so does my gender-bending fiancee. Nice stuff!
The daintification of masculinity | The Nude Ewe — June 21, 2010
[...] Please continue reading HERE. [...]
Crafting a Gender Inclusive World « Preeti's Purpose — June 24, 2010
[...] I read a great post on Sociological Images: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/06/17/the-daintification-of-masculinity/ [...]
Thursday Links « Interrobangs Anonymous — July 1, 2010
[...] This is a really neat project by Nathan Vincent. He creates objects that are typically masculine (mounted deer’s heads, guns, boxing gloves, a lawn lower…) and makes them out of typically feminine processes (he crochets, knits, sews, and appliques the objects). The link has some commentary, and his homepage is here. [...]
Silvia — September 4, 2012
Beautiful!
Silvia — September 4, 2012
Beautiful!
mark — May 15, 2019
can anyone tell me where to find a pattern for a AK47, Level 3 Bulletproof Vest & Level 3 Helmet?
From the game playerunknown battlegrounds (PUBG)
i would love to have one emailed to me mstrangemore@hotmail.com