ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Magda Sayeg - Textile artist
Magda Sayeg uses handmade, eye-catching yarn bombs to shake up the way we see the world and make us notice things we hadn't seen before.

Why you should listen

Considered to be the mother of yarn bombing, Magda Sayeg’s 10-year body of work includes the widely recognized knitted/crocheted covered bus in Mexico City as well as her first solo exhibit in Rome at La Museo des Esposizione. Her work has evolved to include large scale installations around the world including commissions and collaborations with companies such as Commes Des Garçons, CR Fashionbook, Absolut Vodka, Insight 51, Mini Cooper, Gap, Smart Car. She continues to participate in shows such as Milan's Triennale Design Museum, Le M.U.R. in Paris and the National Gallery of Australia, among others. Her installations have also been featured prominently at American monuments to contemporary culture, such as The Standard Hotel, South By Southwest and the Austin City Limits Festival.

Magda has most recently expanded her artwork to encompass new mediums and techniques as with her solo show in Rome, which explored the usage of lighting with knitted material. She continues to expand her boundaries by joining integrated media company 1stAveMachine as one of their directors which will serve as a platform for new types of experimentation and collaboration.

Recent projects include an installation for Dover Street Market in NYC covering a column spanning 6 floors and a knitted/crocheted Route Master Double Decker bus in London.

More profile about the speaker
Magda Sayeg | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2015

Magda Sayeg: How yarn bombing grew into a worldwide movement

Filmed:
1,427,235 views

Textile artist Magda Sayeg transforms urban landscapes into her own playground by decorating everyday objects with colorful knit and crochet works. These warm, fuzzy "yarn bombs" started small, with stop sign poles and fire hydrants in Sayeg's hometown, but soon people found a connection to the craft and spread it across the world. "We all live in this fast-paced, digital world, but we still crave and desire something that's relatable," Sayeg says. "Hidden power can be found in the most unassuming places, and we all possess skills that are just waiting to be discovered."
- Textile artist
Magda Sayeg uses handmade, eye-catching yarn bombs to shake up the way we see the world and make us notice things we hadn't seen before. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
I'm a textile artist
0
1480
1576
00:15
most widely known for starting
the yarn bombing movement.
1
3080
2976
00:18
Yarn bombing is when you take
knitted or crocheted material
2
6080
2936
00:21
out into the urban environment,
graffiti-style --
3
9040
2336
00:23
or, more specifically,
4
11400
1216
00:24
without permission and unsanctioned.
5
12640
2296
00:26
But when I started this over 10 years ago,
6
14960
2856
00:29
I didn't have a word for it,
7
17840
1536
00:31
I didn't have any
ambitious notions about it,
8
19400
2136
00:33
I had no visions of grandeur.
9
21560
1536
00:35
All I wanted to see was something
warm and fuzzy and human-like
10
23120
4376
00:39
on the cold, steel, gray facade
that I looked at everyday.
11
27520
3440
00:43
So I wrapped the door handle.
12
31320
1439
00:45
I call this the Alpha Piece.
13
33560
1600
00:47
Little did I know that this tiny piece
would change the course of my life.
14
35960
3480
00:52
So clearly the reaction was interesting.
15
40040
1936
00:54
It intrigued me and I thought,
"What else could I do?"
16
42000
2524
00:56
Could I do something in the public domain
that would get the same reaction?
17
44548
4188
01:00
So I wrapped the stop sign
pole near my house.
18
48760
2560
01:03
The reaction was wild.
19
51880
1416
01:05
People would park their cars
20
53320
2056
01:07
and get out of their cars and stare at it,
21
55400
2376
01:09
and scratch their heads and stare at it,
22
57800
1936
01:11
and take pictures of it
and take pictures next to it,
23
59760
2496
01:14
and all of that was really exciting to me
24
62280
1976
01:16
and I wanted to do every stop sign pole
in the neighborhood.
25
64280
3016
01:19
And the more that I did,
the stronger the reaction.
26
67320
2600
01:22
So at this point I'm smitten.
27
70800
1496
01:24
I'm hooked.
28
72320
1256
01:25
This was all seductive.
29
73600
1256
01:26
I found my new passion
30
74880
1736
01:28
and the urban environment
was my playground.
31
76640
2120
01:31
So this is some of my early work.
32
79760
1600
01:35
I was very curious about this idea
of enhancing the ordinary,
33
83040
3016
01:38
the mundane, even the ugly,
34
86080
1736
01:39
and not taking away its identity
or its functionality
35
87840
3656
01:43
but just giving it a well-tailored
suit out of knitting.
36
91520
3376
01:46
And this was fun for me.
37
94920
1736
01:48
It was really fun
to take inanimate objects
38
96680
2256
01:50
and have them come to life.
39
98960
1680
01:53
So ...
40
101440
1416
01:54
I think we all see the humor in this,
41
102880
1856
01:56
but --
42
104760
1216
01:58
(Laughter)
43
106000
1096
01:59
I was at a point where
I wanted to take it seriously.
44
107120
2696
02:01
I wanted to analyze it.
45
109840
1256
02:03
I wanted to know why I was letting
this take over my life,
46
111120
2736
02:05
why I was passionate about it,
47
113880
1456
02:07
why were other people
reacting so strongly to it.
48
115360
2536
02:09
And I realized something.
49
117920
1280
02:11
We all live in this
fast-paced, digital world,
50
119800
2896
02:14
but we still crave and desire
something that's relatable.
51
122720
3560
02:18
I think we've all become desensitized
52
126680
2736
02:21
by our overdeveloped
cities that we live in,
53
129440
2576
02:24
and billboards and advertisements,
54
132040
2776
02:26
and giant parking lots,
55
134840
1616
02:28
and we don't even complain
about that stuff anymore.
56
136480
2856
02:31
So when you stumble upon
57
139360
1256
02:32
a stop sign pole
that's wrapped in knitting
58
140640
2336
02:35
and it seems so out of place
59
143000
1696
02:36
and then gradually -- weirdly --
60
144720
1856
02:38
you find a connection to it,
61
146600
1816
02:40
that is the moment.
62
148440
1216
02:41
That is the moment I love
63
149680
1216
02:42
and that is the moment
I love to share with others.
64
150920
2440
02:46
So at this point, my curiosity grew.
65
154280
3136
02:49
It went from the fire hydrants
and the stop sign poles
66
157440
2776
02:52
to what else can I do with this material.
67
160240
1953
02:54
Can I do something big
and large-scale and insurmountable?
68
162217
3999
02:58
So that's when the bus happened.
69
166240
2480
03:03
This was a real game changer for me.
70
171240
2016
03:05
I'll always have a soft spot
in my heart for this one.
71
173280
2816
03:08
At this point, people
were recognizing my work
72
176120
2176
03:10
but there wasn't much out there
73
178320
1496
03:11
that was wrapped in knitting
that was large-scale,
74
179840
2376
03:14
and this definitely was the first
city bus to be wrapped in knitting.
75
182240
3256
03:17
So at this point, I'm experiencing,
76
185520
1736
03:19
or I'm witnessing something interesting.
77
187280
2056
03:21
I may have started yarn bombing
but I certainly don't own it anymore.
78
189360
3416
03:24
It had reached global status.
79
192800
1536
03:26
People from all over the world
were doing this.
80
194360
2191
03:28
And I know this because I would travel
to certain parts of the world
81
196575
3191
03:31
that I'd never been to,
82
199790
1166
03:32
and I'd stumble upon a stop sign pole
and I knew I didn't wrap it.
83
200981
3134
03:36
So as I pursued
my own goals with my art --
84
204139
4117
03:40
this is a lot of my recent work --
85
208280
1920
03:43
so was yarn bombing.
86
211160
1216
03:44
Yarn bombing was also growing.
87
212400
1456
03:45
And that experience showed me
the hidden power of this craft
88
213880
4336
03:50
and showed me
89
218240
1736
03:52
that there was this common language
I had with the rest of the world.
90
220000
3880
03:57
It was through this granny hobby --
91
225360
2256
03:59
this unassuming hobby --
92
227640
2136
04:01
that I found commonality with people
93
229800
2896
04:04
that I never thought
I'd have a connection with.
94
232720
2560
04:08
So as I tell my story today,
95
236280
2616
04:10
I'd also like to convey to you
96
238920
1456
04:12
that hidden power can be found
in the most unassuming places,
97
240400
3416
04:15
and we all possess skills
that are just waiting to be discovered.
98
243840
3240
04:19
If you think about our hands,
these tools that are connected to us,
99
247600
3176
04:22
and what they're capable of doing --
100
250800
2376
04:25
building houses and furniture,
101
253200
1656
04:26
and painting giant murals --
102
254880
1576
04:28
and most of the time
we hold a controller or a cell phone.
103
256480
3656
04:32
And I'm totally guilty of this as well.
104
260160
2576
04:34
But if you think about it,
105
262760
1296
04:36
what would happen
if you put those things down?
106
264080
2216
04:38
What would you make?
What would you create with your own hands?
107
266320
2960
04:42
A lot of people think
that I am a master knitter
108
270040
2296
04:44
but I actually couldn't knit
a sweater to save my life.
109
272360
3056
04:47
But I did something
interesting with knitting
110
275440
2136
04:49
that had never been done before.
111
277600
1816
04:51
I also wasn't "supposed to be" an artist
112
279440
2456
04:53
in the sense that I wasn't
formally trained to do this --
113
281920
3416
04:57
I'm a math major actually.
114
285360
1616
04:59
So I didn't think
this was in the cards for me,
115
287000
2856
05:01
but I also know that I didn't
stumble upon this.
116
289880
2936
05:04
And when this happened to me,
I held on tight,
117
292840
2456
05:07
I fought for it and I'm proud to say
that I am a working artist today.
118
295320
3920
05:12
So as we ponder the future,
119
300040
2760
05:15
know that your future
might not be so seamless.
120
303280
2191
05:17
And one day, you might
be as bored as I was
121
305495
3001
05:20
and knit a door handle
to change your world forever.
122
308520
3376
05:23
Thank you.
123
311920
1216
05:25
(Applause)
124
313160
3816

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Magda Sayeg - Textile artist
Magda Sayeg uses handmade, eye-catching yarn bombs to shake up the way we see the world and make us notice things we hadn't seen before.

Why you should listen

Considered to be the mother of yarn bombing, Magda Sayeg’s 10-year body of work includes the widely recognized knitted/crocheted covered bus in Mexico City as well as her first solo exhibit in Rome at La Museo des Esposizione. Her work has evolved to include large scale installations around the world including commissions and collaborations with companies such as Commes Des Garçons, CR Fashionbook, Absolut Vodka, Insight 51, Mini Cooper, Gap, Smart Car. She continues to participate in shows such as Milan's Triennale Design Museum, Le M.U.R. in Paris and the National Gallery of Australia, among others. Her installations have also been featured prominently at American monuments to contemporary culture, such as The Standard Hotel, South By Southwest and the Austin City Limits Festival.

Magda has most recently expanded her artwork to encompass new mediums and techniques as with her solo show in Rome, which explored the usage of lighting with knitted material. She continues to expand her boundaries by joining integrated media company 1stAveMachine as one of their directors which will serve as a platform for new types of experimentation and collaboration.

Recent projects include an installation for Dover Street Market in NYC covering a column spanning 6 floors and a knitted/crocheted Route Master Double Decker bus in London.

More profile about the speaker
Magda Sayeg | Speaker | TED.com