Emily Roose is a graphic designer from Massachusetts. She contacted me about her latest series, “Slow Breaking News” and I asked her to tell me all about it:
“For my Masters in Graphic Design thesis project at New England School of Art and Design, I designed and created 6 breaking news stories into cross-stitch pieces over the course of 4 months. I wanted to highlight the absurdity of the ways these sensationalized breaking stories are reported in the media by putting them in a very very slow medium.
“Each piece took about 25-30 hours to design and stitch. I used source imagery from TV broadcasts and news websites. Since I only roughly sketched out the designs of each before I started stitching, much of the designs are improvised, and much of that stitching time was spent contemplating form and color, and taking out a lot of stitches when it didn’t look right. I came to think of cross stitching as a very slow mode of drawing.
“I got a lot of inspiration from sites like Mr X Stitch, Subversive Cross Stitch, and Feeling Stitchy, and lots of technical help from friends who stitch. I highly enjoyed the challenge of representing people and things with a very limited pixel grid.
“What I also enjoyed, unexpectedly perhaps, was the physical pleasure of cross stitching. It just feels so good to hold fabric (I don’t use a loop when I stitch) and pull a needle and thread through. It’s hard to explain why but I’m sure readers of this site will understand! I’m currently working on a couple new cross-stitching projects, I think I’m hooked for life!”
This is a smart series of stitcheries. The slow production process challenges the drama of the content, raising the question of whether these issues would be newsworthy if the reportage took a week to produce. There’s something about the medium of cross stitch and the simplicity of these designs that further emphasises the contrast and dispels the hype. Nicely done!
You can find out more about Emily at her website.
