Knit Lead Teddy Bear (2006) 
Knitting Machine (2005) Artist Dave Cole makes use of knitting to create sculptures and installations which question the utilitarian definition of craft, which has so often been used to separate craft from fine art. Cole questions the dichotomy of art and craft by thrusting knitting (craft) into what could be defined as fine art territory. Through his unusual choice of knitting technique, Cole removes the utilitarian properties of knitting. What I find most interesting about Coles practice is the idea that he transcends both craft and fine art disciplines by using knitting and sculpture simultaneously. This where my practice lies, Why can't craft be used in fine art? Who says that craft isn't fine art? My practice makes use of paint and knitting, to create pieces which cannot be categorised as craft or fine art. I create knitted pieces out of skeins of paint. my knitting is essentially a painting....
In Knitting Machine (2005), see above, Cole removes knitting from the domestic realm and instead makes the activity public, immediately questioning the aesthetic hierarchy which places craft of a lower aesthetic worth because of its attachments to the domestic. The Knitting Machine was a performance and a sculptural installation, in which Cole used20 foot knitting needles attached to excavators to knit the American flag. Cole states that it 'combines the feminised domestic tradition of knitting with the grandiose gesture of construction usually associated with masculine labour.'
Cole also removes the utilitarian properties of knitting through either the size or materials he chooses to use. For example, withing Knit Lead Teddy Bear (2006), see above, Cole uses handcut lead ribbon over an armature of lead wool to create what would appear to be a stuffed toy. The height and pattern are suggestive of a comforting stuffed toy; however on closer inspection the piece is anything but comforting, instead it is heavy and most importantly toxic. Cole subverts the comforting and domestic nature of the traditional teddy and also knitting.