ABSTRACT
Political theorist Chantal Mouffe suggests a radical politics of abandoning existing power structures to form alternative social forms. She also presents a strategy, using “artivism” to engage differently within institutions. The sheer isolation he felt in creating his knitted sculptures for almost a decade led him to produce more improvised and performative work, first with friends and later with strangers. Certainly knitting, for Oliver, was more than the product or even the process. Crafter Betsy Greer calls the “quiet activism” of an artist who is “motivated by social or political activism” craftivism when the craft invites “others to join a conversation about the social and political intent of our creations”. Contemporary artists are increasingly “choosing to engage with timely issues by expanding their practice beyond the safe confines of the studio and right into the complexities of the unpredictable public sphere”.
