"Makes those who try cry ... "

getting ready
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.

Last weekend I went with Tim to Battersea Park for the "Knitted Wedding" of my friends Freddie & Ben. The event was an art work by 'radical' knitting group Cast Off and part of the show "Ceremony" that Freddie has curated at the Pump House Gallery.
I always cry at weddings, no matter who the couple are, where the event is or how inappropriate it seems (draw your own conclusions as to why this might be). Freddie is also a woman prone to tears and I hardly dared look across at her when we arrived and squeezed into one of the tiny packed upstairs galleries, where she was being 'prepared' for the big event. Obviously I knew this wasn't their 'real wedding' (this took place a little while ago) but even an art-wedding seemed to do the trick and I found my eyes brimming at the sight of Freddie looking worried in her knitted dress, dripping in the little tags attached to each knitted piece sent as a separate donations.

Which brings me to the title of this post: On seeing people responding with tears (or not!) to Karen and I's film "Bata-ville" Adam came up with the phrase "Makes those who try cry". During the film the Bata-ville passengers who've endured a gruelling week long art-bus-trip (with us as their hosts) struggle to express their confusion and in some cases gratitude for the cathartic experience we have 'provided'. One scene, in particular, can still drive me to tears despite having to view it over and over in the edit suite until practically numb. Anyway, the fact Karen and I would have to cough back tears behind the editor every time it appeared did not guarantee that others would be moved by the same scene or emotions.

What Adam observed though was, in many ways, very accurate. Most people who you'd think of as 'tryers' (as in God loves a tryer) are moved to tears by the scene, whilst others can sit through it seeming to feel little empathy with the woman struggling to express herself on screen. Does this reflect on the film or in fact the person watching and what they bring to it?

At the wedding I don't know why I felt like crying maybe the sight of grown women in bad underwear and unflattering shades of slightly grubby white knitting? It could have been, but more likely it was caused by seeing how many people had pulled together to contribute their knitted dove, bow or cake layer to the 'big day'. Fortunately their were so many knitters present we couldn't even get into the ceremony - thank God, I'd have probably blubbed over the knitted altar.

knitted bubbly
Originally uploaded by Nina Pope.

A couple of weeks before the wedding Freddie called me in the middle of the day ... "I watched your film" she said, "Nina it's so fucking sad I couldn't stop sobbing".

Knitted Wedding Paparazzi