While Monday’s Apple Keynote put the Apple Watch and the new gold Macbook on everybody’s mind, right here on Wyckoff Ave in Bushwick we got to see the premiere of the new Eye Phone! Yarn is the medium of choice for recent Bushwick transplant, London Kaye, who’s been peppering Bushwick with loads of crocheted graffiti gems (like these wearable Power Ranger masks – her personal favorite Bushwick piece).
“I just moved to Bushwick a couple months ago and I had been passing by this phone booth everyday. It’s in the most central part of the block, yet it never gets used, touched, or looked at. I knew it was the perfect spot for this installation,” explained the artist.
Inspired by Apple’s beautiful tech and the company’s willingness to push the envelope, London hoped all passerby who see the piece get a slightly different message: “I want us all to open our eyes and enjoy the world around us. Put the phones down and live life fully. We all use our technology more than ever and we are becoming addicted to these devices. In my own way I am trying to change that.” Mostly inspired by current events and photographs, a big part of the decision process behind the pieces London makes relies simply on the the colors of yarn she has available. The reason you may have seen several big blue crocheted whales around the hood? Well, she’s got a lot of blue yarn.
Street-yarn averages about a two week lifespan (with some installations lasting up to a year) so you’ve all got some time to check out the Eye Phone, chillin outside Wyckoff Starr coffee shop. For you iPhone users out there (aka all of you) it’ll definitely tug at your heartstrings a bit. (See what I did there?)