The Way Things Go, and Don't
Jane Waggoner Deschner
Billings, Montana
The Way Things Go, and Don’t, 2007
Books, yarn, duct tape
Reading the words of the white supremacists, I could never make sense of their hatred –their beliefs so anathema and abhorrent to my own. But I can show tolerance and compassion for them and their followers as fellow human beings. I can comment in a different language. I can be “with” but not “like.” I can’t negate, counter, erase, or deny,but I can work with and transform their books and words into something that speaks differently.
Why are 13 white supremacist books wearing 13 hand-knitted stocking caps? God’s 13 Attributes of Mercy as written in the Torahare about forgiveness –how to emulate God’s grace, compassion, and mercy. With fellow humans, act with patience, tolerance, assistance, empathy, insight, love, compassion, pity, integrity, kindness, truthfulness, mercy,and understanding.
The word “knit” means
- To form (a fabric or garment) from yarn or thread by using long needles;
- To cause (things or people) to come together closely, to unite or combine;
- To grow together (of a bone) to heal after being broken.
Knitting is a traditional craft practiced for thousands of years, a hand-to-hand connection to generations past. Making a utilitarian garment is a meaningful act that connects the knitter to the wearer in an intimate way. Using stocking caps, I allude to the innocent boys these men once were.
Bio
Jane Waggoner Deschner is avisual artist whose usual medium is the vernacular photograph. Facilitated by increasingly sophisticated digital technology and the age-old art of needle-in-hand, she explores new ways of perceiving these ubiquitous, but often overlooked, products of massculture. Born in Pennsylvania, she grew up in Kansas and moved to Billings, Montana, over 30 years ago.