If you've had a downer of a week, this should make you crack a small smile.
Local yarnbombers and sisters Jill and Lorna Watt have decorated benches down at the Ferry Building with about 3 miles of acrylic yarn, crafting adorable cartoon-esque monsters who will provide you at least a two minutes of entertainment.
The Watt sisters have officially named the bench warmers "buttmunches" for obvious reasons. Look at the photo below. We emailed with Lorna who explained the work and logic behind the Ferry Building buttmunchers, which went up on Tuesday.
They are both knit and crocheted using about 3 miles of acrylic yarn, 30 hours to construct, and 3 hours to install. Our inspiration was to find a picturesque site in the city where both locals and tourists could enjoy our work. We love the way the waterfront is transforming into a new, vibrant heart of the city and wanted to show it some love. The Ferry Plaza is also sentimental to us since we have fond memories from the 80's of taking the ferry to the Embarcadero to have lunch with our grandfather who worked at PG&E. Our mother also worked near the Embarcadero, and we've been going there since we were kids. I usually walk around areas on Google Street View looking for objects to transform into silly things with yarn. We think it a noble endeavor to make grown-ups smile. The benches had a gorgeous backdrop on all sides, and the idea of giving them a local bite, as it were, just came to me. Some objects shout at us, others need intense psychotherapy to coax it out.
The creative duo started their yarnbombing career guerrilla-style, but since the laborious artworks are so easy to steal or damage, the sisters now get permission from the site before they get started.
"Cities like Oakland and San Mateo are not only becoming new art hubs because of rising rents, they're attracting artists with welcoming attitudes in local government and business," Lorna told us.
Part of the fun is watching people stumble across the yarnbomb. Lorna said.
"It's amazing how easily we can keep tabs on it via Instagram and Twitter posts, but we also enjoy spying on the benches in person," she said "So far people are enjoying having a comfy rest, shaking their hand, and pretending to be eaten. We're still hoping for a shot of the Buttmunches eating a pigeon or a baby."
Check out their other yarnbomb.
Now you have something fun to do this weekend.
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