Maximilian Bauer

The project Nothing you say is more important than bomb-ass fiber arts <3 explores the history of fiber arts and the concomitant patronization of the media due to its association with “women’s work”. It examines the devaluation of femininity and queerness within the fields of (creative) labour as well as aspects of everyday life. Ultimately, it aims to deconstruct destructive perceptions by reappropriating the visual language of hyperfemininity – an exaggerated version of all things feminine – through fiber arts, a medium that has historically been dismissed due to its associations with a feminine craft. A total of 16 pieces have been created, photographed, and collected in a publication accompanied by instructions, as well as personal text regarding queer feminist issues addressed with and through the crochet pieces. Thereby, inspired by the practices of the fiber arts movement in the 1960s and 70s, femininity and queerness is celebrated and reclaimed in a society that commonly represses and belittles such forms of expression; embracing strength in softness.