Aloha! And welcome to "Hook the Reef: the Hawai'i Prototype Reef," a satellite reef of the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles.

The worldwide hyperbolic crochet (and knit) coral reef phenomenon is finally making its way to Hawai’i! Take some inspiration from the marine life around the Hawaiian Archipelago and knit or crochet some models of sea creatures to contribute to this community art project. The exhibition will take place from 3-28 June 2011 at the Hawai’i Craftsmen window at Marks Garage, a gallery in the Chinatown/Arts District of Honolulu on the island of O'ahu.

Now here’s the fine print. I’ve added a few parameters for this version of the exhibit to tie it more closely to our isolated and biodiverse region of the world.

1. The models must somehow resemble or take inspiration from known species in the greater Hawaiian archipelago. Be it a color combination you especially like, or your mission to knit your first humuhumunukunukuapua’a (our state fish), your contributions may be as whimsical or realistic as you’d like. Just please let me know what led you to make what you made.

2. The models must be primarily knitted or crocheted. Secondary felting/fulling or embroidery is certainly acceptable.

3. The models must reach me by 23 May 2011 for inclusion in the June exhibition (message me, DaTwine on ravelry.com or HookTheReef@gmail.com, for mailing address).

4. The models on display during the June exhibition must be for sale. You may determine the sale price. The gallery will receive a percentage of the sale price, and should you choose, feel free to donate some of those monies back to the project (to cover usage fees, advertising costs, exhibition material expenses, etc). We will also be using kickstarter.com in the hopes of recovering those fees.

What’s NOT limited is your choice of materials. Think “yarn” in the broad sense. Plastic bags sliced into strips of "plarn" or the use of cassette/video tapes are good ways to repurpose materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Another particularly relevant material would be derelict fishing gear - nets or fishing lines - recovered from the ocean. Use your imagination and see what you can come up with for an alternative fiber source!

Also not limited is the region where YOU, the contributor, live. Just please take into account the amount of time it might take for your parcel to be mailed here.

The exhibit’s reception will take place on Friday 17 June 2011 to coincide with the “Slow Art Friday” events in the arts district and to reference “World Oceans Day.” Let me know if you’re interested in doing demonstrations of how to make the hyperbolic forms - we’ll be giving away packs of yarn and hooks to interested visitors, so the more demonstrators, the better! We’re also seeking people interested in doing short presentations about marine conservation. Contact -- > HookTheReef@gmail.com

The “prototype” aspect of this project is that I’m hoping to get support from a larger local institution to put on a much larger version of this exhibition in the near future, akin to the current exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution. With that larger venue will come additional opportunities to do outreach with local schools to teach kids about the math, science, and art aspects of this project such that they can not only contribute to the exhibit, but also develop a closer and more conservation-minded relationship to the ocean and its inhabitants. Mahalo!