Knitting 2011 04:18. By Marie Christine Katz, Nosrat Nosratian, and Dolla Sapeta. The performance and the video were created in collaboration during our 2011 Art Omi residency. Following a thread leading to an unexpected moment in two people’s lives. This video leads to various performances called. Knitting… I Need You. During the performance, I sit or walk around and knit; if people, passersby, seem interested, I’ll offer them some introductory knitting lesson. Together we will knit and chat, exchange stories. At various moments throughout the days, I will perform shorts monologues that are stories by themselves. Yet, if someone were to hear each one of the monologues, he/she would gain an understanding of an entire story. Also, I will insert elements of stories told to me during the previous knitting session within each of the monologues. During my performance, I’ll present you with a request. I need you; I need you to imagine… Those words will be the beginning of each monologue; as I perform, the knitting I worked on with the public will unravel. By offering interested people to teach them basic knitting techniques, it creates an opportunity to spend some time with each other and exchange stories, communicate and develop a sense of connection. The stories told to me will affect my following monologue. I involve the public in the knitting aspect and merge stories into monologues I perform in various settings.
