Recycled VHS Tape Crochet Artist Adrian Kershaw

Adrian Kershaw (@shawkerfarm) is a fine art artist who has recently gained some attention for the work she’s doing with recycled VHS tapes. This version of plarn is something that I’ve seen before but I think the artistic way that Kershaw is working with it is unique and interesting.

More About Crochet Artist Adrian Kershaw

Adrian Kershaw is an interesting artist show combines different mediums to create soft sculpture art. She recently graduated from a production assistant program and also does design work, photography and digital art. What interests me, of course, is her work in crochet art. She recently crocheted more than fifty soft sculpture pieces from VHS tape and shares her experience with green art making on her YouTube channel. Her work has been displayed in galleries in Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.

About Kershaw’s Crochet Art

Adrian explains that she takes the tape out of old VHS tapes and then spools it back up to be used in crocheting. She makes vessels, towers and other sculptural pieces. In addition to crochet, she uses various wrapping, stitching and stretching techniques to shape and finish her pieces. Often she crochets a chain with the tape and then uses basketmaking techniques to turn that chain into a vessel although she uses a variety of other techniques, too. Kershaw also makes some wearable art pieces by crocheting her VHS tape into accessories like bracelets and pins and then embellishing them with vintage buttons.

A Quote About Kershaw

A quote on Kershaw’s Facebook page is attributed to Aric Shapiro and describes what Kershaw does as “Harnessing the Obsolescence of Tangible Media”.

Examples of Kershaw’s Recycled Crochet Sculptures

From Kershaw’s Facebook:

Beyond Recycling: Recycling the Obsolete

Kershaw has explained that although she considers herself part of the green art movement, she’s doing more than just general art recycling. She’s recycling the obsolete. Items like VHS tapes are in danger of disappearing altogether since they are a form of technology that is no longer used. If artists and collectors don’t save them then they’ll just end up in the landfills and eventually be gone. This type of recycled art uses green art principles to preserve a historic period of time.

Other Similar Crochet Artists

Tina Dean Designs is one of my favorite plarn workers. She makes wearable items and accessories from plastic bags, VHS tape and more.

Evelyn Roth, who has gained attention for recycling the film tape from TV stations.

What are your thoughts on “recycling the obsolete” as opposed to just recycled item art in general?