The Count • Covid Death Count Veil • WIP
2023 (Begun in March of 2020) STILL WORKING ON IT
Mixed Media:
CROCHETED SURPLUS VINTAGE 34 AWG AND 37 AWG BIFILAR AND TRIFILAR MAGNET WIRE, SUPPORT STRUCTURE (NOT FINALIZED), ON PEDESTAL MADE FROM WOOD ROUNDS, FIRE PIT RING AND CUT CORRUGATED TIN
DIMENSIONS:
Veil • 71 inches T x 120 inches W x 310 inches D/L (Approximate Measurements) • Pedestal is 40 inches diameter x 17 inches T
NOTES:
I HAVE CROCHETED OVER ONE MILLION STITCHES OF TRIFILAR AND BIFILAR ENAMEL COLOR COATED MAGNET WIRE (3 WIRES AND/OR 2 WIRES TWISTED INTO A SINGLE STRAND). MY FINAL COUNT WILL BE DEPENDENT UPON ESTHETICS. I HAVE CROCHETED OVER 1 MILLION STITCHES. I HAVE CHOSEN A ‘MILLION’ TO REPRESENT THE VASTNESS OF THE NUMBERS AND A POINT TO STOP COUNTING. I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO ACTUALLY KEEP UP WITH THE GLOBAL COUNT. I CHOSE THE DIFFERENT COLORED TRIFILAR AND BIFILAR TWISTED WIRES TO REPRESENT A MIXED GLOBAL COMMUNITY. THE VEIL IS IN FOUR (4) SECTIONS. IN ASIAN CULTURES THE SOUND FOR THE WORD/NUMBER 4 IS THE SAME SOUND AS FOR THE WORD DEATH. I HAVE AVERAGED 1,000 STITCHES A DAY FOR OVER 3 YEARS. MY HANDS NEEDED A BREAK AND I HAVE NOW REDUCED MY TIME SPENT CROCHETING. I AM STILL AT IT THOUGH.
Still to be made:
• A wreath of flowers made from SCULPTED metal mesh, wire and my hair that I have collected for years. Wreath to be placed on the ‘head’.
• More flowers made to be placed on the veil (where I have indicated with knitting/crocheting markers) for when/where any friends passed during this time. Not all died from Covid..
• The support is INTENDED to be transparent AND hint at a figure but be amorphous. The photo shows the veil supported on plexiglass sneeze guards, acrylic boxes and a vintage acrylic salad bowl (turned upside-down), all stacked on top of each other. I AM WORKING ON ANOTHER SUPPORT METHOD.
