When you think of crocheting, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me it’s my grandma craftily weaving thread into little animals which she mailed to her grandchildren on our birthdays. I bet you thought of something along the same lines. When Carl Nordlund, a network science postdoc at CEU was introduced to the hobby however, his first thought was –Pacman! Carl has been an avid retrogamer since he was tall enough to reach the handles at his local arcade. He enjoyed the social aspect of gaming in public spaces before personal systems brought everyone back into their homes. He loved it so much in fact, that he learned to fix arcade games and later set up the world’s largest online society for arcade game nostalgics, now operating with over 10,000 members. It made sense then that when a friend was getting married he offered to teach her to fix arcade games, and when she offered to instruct him in crocheting in return, he united the two hobbies.
It’s been over a decade since Carl made his first crocheted 8-bit video game character, and over the years he has spent many hours perfecting his craft. Carl even came up with a new method of crocheting which hides thread behind thread and results in a crisp product that can be viewed from either side. It is this fresh “digital neo-retro” product that will be on display at Printa, an art gallery and café, starting with an opening at 7pm on October 3rd. All of the proceeds from the 30+ characters on display will be donated to Patent, an NGO which supports woman’s and LGBT rights.
Check it out, support one of your CEU comrades in his endeavors, and next time someone says that you don’t fit into the right demographic for a hobby, stare them straight in the eyes and tell them Carl’s story!
Graham Patterson, USA, Public Policy
Location: PRINTA, 1075 Budapest, Rumbach Sebestyén u. 10.
Exhibition Opening: October 3, 2013, 7 pm
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