medium: aida cloth, thread
Cute Vandalism…a series of bathroom graffiti needlepoint sewings
-a collaborative project between Jes Schrom and Robert Marbury (aka squidskillpeople)
Cute Vandalism transforms quick anonymous, (possibly offensive) bathroom wall writings into methodic, familiar (possibly safe) embroideries and presents them in a way that hovers between traditional and contemporary.
In the first phase of Cute Vandalism, we document the use of anonymous writings on bathroom walls as a socio-cultural expression of current norms. Paying close attention to regionalism and gender, we believe that a more complex story will develop that elaborates on urban mythologies of sex, race, and politics.
In the second phase, the graffiti is translated into simplified needlepoint designs. We take thoughts that are quick, anonymous, and private and turn them into methodical, authored, and public. We hope that this transformation allows an entrance into difficult discussions. Taken out of context, these phrases compel us to re-evaluate comments we might disregard in the functional realm of the public bathroom. These works also utilize traditional craft processes and symbols, and by "cutie-fying" (we are aware that this is not a word) the desperate, humorous, and at times outright offensive, we hope to examine the role of art in the validation and elevation of specific subject matter.
