Genzken’s Ellipsoids are hand-painted monumental wooden floor sculptures that touch the floor at only one point. Appearing to hover above the surface, these works express the artist’s lifelong interest in precision engineering. Genzken based the sculptures’ design on geometrical calculations of an ellipse (an elongated circle), for which she enlisted the help of a computer programmer. Her embrace of computer technology is at odds with the Ellipsoids’ handmade qualities. When the works first debuted, critics and other artists compared them to crafted objects like knitting needles, a seemingly gendered interpretation that led the artist to describe them as “weapons.”

Yesterday, Anne’s weekly knitting in public meeting resulted in another 9-1-1 call. No, no one was stabbed. One of the other participants had a seizure. Calling the ambulance is fast becoming a regular occurrence at these geriatric get togethers. While it was not a stroke, the victim was eventually carted off to the ER and will have his antiseizure medication increased.

I remember after 9/11 that knitting needles were temporarily banned as aircraft carry on, but the pacifying properties of their use was deemed to outweigh any risk of them being used as a weapon. That will remain true until the first time someone is actually attacked with these needles. All of Anne’s needles are much smaller than the two six-meter monsters pictured above. That is a good thing, because they would never be allowed onboard as carry-on anyway.