Runway hijinx

SCANDAL rocks the Runway...will all be revealed in tonight's episode?

ps--there is no "more" linked below..don't bother to click it ;)

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yarg!

Bah! I am such an idiot...

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art updates and shameful avoidance tactics

I am currently in the middle of a new practice: shameful avoidance tactics, that is. Avoiding what I really *should* be doing which is calling people, finishing up some art projects with (very) impending deadlines, and planning my fall syllabus for a class I'm teaching at CCA. Oh, lord, why do I do these things? The avoidance, that is...I generally like what I do, it's just that sometimes i just want to chuck it all away and laze about for weeks on end. Huh, I've actually never done that. That could be interesting.

ANYHOW. Some good news! I received a Fellowship Award for a 2006-7 artist residency at the Kala Art Center in Berkeley...It's a traditional and digital printmaking facility, as well as a video production facility, so I'm super excited to work on several projects I've had in mind (but not the computer space or photography studio to work with). Only 8 artists were chosen out of a national applicant pool, so I feel very lucky to have gotten in. My friend Packard Jennings also got it, so maybe we'll even collaborate a bit. Huzzah! I plan on starting sometime in September and it runs for six months. And since it's in the East Bay, not too far from where I'll be teaching twice a week, I can go straight to the studios there to work on stuff after classes. Double huzzah!

Here's some art openings of mine coming up soon:


FOUR ON ONE: 4 CURATORS CURATE STEPHANIE SYJUCO
At the Garage Biennale, San Francisco, CA
July 29 - August 25, 2006
Four opening receptions: 7/29, 8/5, 8/12, and 8/19, all Saturdays 6 - 11 pm.

==> show website
==> garage biennale website
It's sort of a meta-project, really. I am having four openings (one each week) for a priod of 4 weeks, and each is organized by a different curator and curatorial "vision." The instigator, artist Michael Zheng, has a thesis that curators have a huge effect on the contextualization of artwork, almost to the point where they control the meaning of a work (as opposed to the artist controlling the meaning). It's an interesting idea, and while I'm not in total agreeance, agreed to participate in this experiment. The four curators are all very different (museum/commercial gallery/alternative space/artist-run), so it should be interesting!


NextNew2006: Art and Technology
At the San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art
August 1 - September 16, 2006
Opening Reception: August 12, 6pm to Midnight

==> gallery website
==> ISEA Symposium website

I am making the most un-technological piece in the exhibition, which for me is the point! I know for a fact that there will be lots of high-tech plug-in artworks in the show, and mine will be about images of consumerist items downloaded from the internet and printed up at "real size" and displayed as foamboard cutouts, set up in a large array. The original source images were downloaded from ebay and craigslist (all previously used items). Look, I got nothing against technology, really. I just think it's overrated. Haha.

Below are some shots of the work in progress taken at my studio...click on 'em to make 'em bigger and see more detail!






Finally, my show at the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu is coming down in early August (boo hoo!). If you're in the area, please stop by!

Now I am off to the studio to get some work done. oof!

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more funstuffs!

The bloggosphere is too entertaining these days. So much funstuff it's crazy! Here's a few:


Interesting re-posted re-post found on Extreme Craft regarding the industry of distressing those $200 jeans (what an apt article as I am just distressing myself over jeans in general, too!--see previous post)...Scroll down the page a bit to find it and then follow the leader to the NYTimes article, as well...


(above image from Hel-Looks...keee-yute!)
Trisha of Bits & Bobbins has posted an array of links to awesome street fashion websites (like Hel-Looks, one of my faves). I love having them all in one place like this and now I will be clicking away at them to my heart's content. And she's pretty cool to read up on, too :) Go here and then look at the right-hand column to see 'em...Ugh, looking at all the international coolness really makes me feel like my hometown of San Francisco can be so plain dowdy in comparison--all that "California casual" is soooo boring. But that's a whole 'nother topic, ain't it?


Wardrobe Refashion really floats my boat because it's really a public challenge: can you wear only handmade or second-hand clothing for SEVERAL MONTHS? Check this:

The Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

I _____________,

Pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months.

I Pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recylcle pre-loved items for myself for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I shall create and craft items of clothing for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract.

I Pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!

Damn fab idea, ladies! Keep on rockin' out :)

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tunic fiesta

i'll be adding yet another batch of new anti-factory goods in a few days (prolly monday?). i took all the photos but need to make the webpages and take measurements, etc. if anything, i'm pretty excited about the new silhouette i'm working with: longer tunic lengths that have banded bottoms, so they can *almost* be miniskirts for the very brave, but are generally safer as tops over leggings or jeans. all the new fashion mags have some damn awesome new fall looks happening, and it's so hard to be thinking about woollens and sweaters when the weather is now in the 80s/90s in SF, but it makes me look forward to the upcoming season, fer sure!

the new batch preview goes something like this:

this one has *gold* 80s fabric at the chest and magenta polka-dots--yow!

detail of the applique on chest:

flower pow! (this one's a regular top, not the extra-long length)


then of course there's the extra-fun graphic tops with funny colors and patterns like this one:


on another note: i spent a good part of the day going shopping and trying to find pants that fit me. i swear, there's something about pants that make them ultra-elusive and soooo hard to find a good pair. the new skinny jeans styles are all of the super-low waist variety and i HATE the way they feel--like your ass is about to pop out of it and it cuts off the circulation of your hips. i can't wait until they burn all of these and the regular-waisted look comes back again. eegads, it's not like i have too much extra around the middle at all, except for some reason the low-waist jeans make me look like i have "muffin top" above the waistline. how sad. needless to say, my jeans excursion was fruitless and i'm starting to wonder if i really do have to plunk down over $100 for a decent pair. i've never done this before and i loathe to start now.

what's a girl to do? oh, all you on internet land reading this here blog right now, if you can recommend any brand (with pricing? that would be nice...) of jeans that you swear by, please help this hapless gal in her elusive search. i want preferrably skinny leg with a normal waistline height. muchas gracias in advance!

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funstuffs!

In my attempt to provide tidbits of content on this here ole blog, I bring you some fun stuff that has been floatin' my boat lately!



Laura Zindel's ceramics rock so hard...She's the sister of a friend of mine and I've met her before, plus my old roommate had a few of her vases since they were friends, too. About 2 years ago my mom gave me 2 beautiful cups of hers out of complete chance and it was such a thrill. So now Kurt and I drink our morning coffee out of mugs embellished wiht bumblebees and spiders. Nice! Could you imagine being immensely wealthy and outfitting your entire kitchenware with her work? The thought leaves me breathless...



If I bought new fabrics to use in anti-factory duds, I would shop at the Repro Depot, which specializes in reissues of old fabric prints. Rummage around and get inspired!


Gourmet Amigurumi makes such cute dolls. I want all of them. "What's an amigurumi" you may ask? Go find out...


To both fascinate and scare the beejeezus out of you, check out this photoset on flickr, civilian gun trucks, that specializes in showing modified vehicles outfitted for the iraq war. I am oddly fascinated by the machine guns mounted on the SUVs and the tank-like structures added to the Toyotas. Wow.


Before you think I totally suck for advocating the killing of poor innocent deer for chandeliers, these are FAKE antlers, OK? Fake. Not real. And I want a GIANT one hanging in my living room (or over my dining room table) one day! Or at least one of those awesome bedside lamp ones.


Finally, can no one dispute that Cheap Opulence has such fabulous taste in clothing? Check out her fashion roundup on her blog (scroll down a bit till you get to the clothes). But while you're at it, peruse through her fabulous art links and pics of contemporary British art, plus her dear sweet wee one. So cute. So cute.

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Anti-Factory RESTOCK: Hell-o Chickadee!

'Tis done: new stuff in the store! Fifteen items with lots of bold colors and graphics...And the chickadee fabric is back :)

(a little later...)
YOW! Things are selling *really* fast...I think it's because I posted during a workday and people who are sitting in front of their computers have their trigger fingers ready to go...wow...Usually I post in the evening and it's a nice steady trickle instead of a slam. Still some things left but sorry to those who have missed out on what they wanted, but keep checking back for new stuff down the pipeline! I promise!

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eternity or bust!

Whoo-hooo! Bust magazine has hit the stands and there's a little ole article on Anti-Factory in it! I knew it was coming so it's no surprise, but I never believe it until I see it (or at least hear it from others), so it's like Christmas all over again or something :) I have yet to get a copy of the article, but folks have been emailing me to join up my mailing list from it, so it seems to be getting good responses. Thanks to you new ones who have just found me--welcome aboard!

On another note: A NEW BATCH OF GOODIES will be up later today in the store. Whoo-hoo again! After having the killer summer of travel and not being as good as I'd like in restocking the store, my guns are outta their holsters, my sewing needles are revved and primed, and I'm bust-ing out.

Check back soon!

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girl's night in

Last night i was feeling a bit anti-social, so given that it was friday decided to have a "girl's night in" for myself--kurt is in san diego this weekend to visit his dad, and it's one of those rare moments that i'm by myself all weekend at home...it duly consisted of:

--having a dinner of crackers, hummus, cherry tomatoes, and popcorn (a dinner of hors-d'ouvres, fer sure!) on the rug in front of the TV

--drinking: a glass of cold sake on ice and a nice gin martini after

--watching: bridget jones' diary and then velvet goldmine. two polar opposite movies that happened to be on cable tv. both were fun, for obviously different reasons.

--painting my nails a nice shade of metallic grey in ode to velvet goldmine, fantasizing about how hot the kurt wild character (a thinly-veiled iggy pop) looks. aaaaaaa! so hot!

--going online at midnight and surfing itunes for new music (my new bad thing to do, as it is too easy to spend money). found my new favorite album by TV on the Radio, and my new anthem by them "Staring at the Sun." so awesome! Also downloaded the song "Goodbye Horses" by 80s/90s band Psyche (a cover of the Silence of the Lambs song where the killer is dancing around and twisting his nipples). love it!

--staying up till 2:30am just lounging around and surfing infomercials. i couldn't believe one cable channel had a program in which 2 young attractive (not ho-ey) ladies sell dildoes and vibrators to the public, a la QVC. wow!

I've only once lived by myself in my own apartment--when I had broken up with a live-in boyfriend about ten years ago and had my own place here in SF. it was scary because i could totally not leave the house for days at a time sometimes and just get wrapped up in my own little world. Living with others keeps me socialized and helps keep me from living in my pajamas all day (so embarrassing!).

Tonight is another "girl's night in." What shall I do, i wonder?

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tokyo so far away

My mom, my dad, my little brother Jake, and my younger cousin Ella are on a 2-week vacation in Japan. We used to live in Tokyo back in the late 80s when I was in 7th and 8th grade and I haven't been back since. They just sent a few photos to me and it's making me all nostalgic for the bright lights and weird "engrish"...Above is a photo of Ella and Jake in Ginza, enjoying the nightlife. Jake is about 6' 3" tall, and looks like a tower himself, I'm sure.


har har!


and lastly, a photo of Jake post-Japanese-hipster haircut...he loves all things Japanese and I'm sure it was thrilling to get a "real-life" Japanese salon haircut. After sporting long surferish hair for the past several years, he has moved on. I was amazed when I saw this photo because on first glance he looks like he could be in his early 20s...but he's only 16, believe it or not! ah, my little brother... :)

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countefeiting galore!

Kat M in Tokyo has taken the Counterfeit Crochet Handbag Project to a new level: embarking on a journey to make an *entire* Louis Vuitton monogrammed set of items! First up is her amazing logo belt, and you can read more about it in her blog pinku...Straight outta Tokyo! She says a lady in her knitting circle was worried for her about the legal issues of doing it--ha ha! Go Kat!




Up next is an amazing Chanel cake that Cat made for her Mom who loves all things Chanel. Note the detailed recipe and instructions that will lead every happy homemaker down the path of making Coco turn over in her grave (or would she be flattered? who knows?)...Thanks to Jenny V for forwarding this fab link to me! Let them eat cake, I say!

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hell-o!

oh, alas, look what happened to guadalupe from last season's project runway...eeeks! and remember her drunken weirdness on the "reunion" show right before the finale? oh my lord. she's peppy but unhinged, it would seem. or just a bad drunk. and it looks like she went on a spending spree in the 99-cent-a-spool ribbon aisle. ouch!

this image is ripped from the go fug yourself blog, which, my dears, if you haven't yet checked out, is a veritible treasure-trove of hilarity. those gals should get paid big money for their heckling skills--the writing is impeccably funny!

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Anti-Factory RESTOCK: Grafica Maximus!

Alrighty, i'ssup! go here :D

I've already gotten some great responses to the "Navy Chickadee" top style, so there will be more of these...my tastes can change rather quickly and I'm starting to lean towards the more "bolder" styles and colors as opposed to the uber-floral (well, I *still* likes 'em, so they'll be around). but that's the luxury of being a one-off sewer--I can change change change if I wanna!

Oh and hey: do you have any style requests? I've been meaning to add some kind of poll component to my website so I can ask folks what types of styles they like of mine (i.e: floral, frilly, doily, bold, solid colors, patterns, cropped, long, jackettes, tops, sweaters, etc.)

What do you want to see more of from me? Don't be shy--let's share!

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fair warning!

To those of you reading and wanting to know when I'll have new Anti-Factory items: VERY VERY SOON! Like maybe later tonight! I'm just doing the finishing touches on the website, and will send out announcements in a few hours, hopefully...in the meantime, here's a sample:

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back from the beyond

yep, got back last night from a week away--no phone access within an hour of where we stayed, so it was an oddly media-free environment. upon returning last night i saw that i had inadvertently forgotten to take my online store offline, so if you have purchased vintage items whilst i was away, i duly apologize for the delay, and they will be out to you ASAP!

will fill ya'lls in on the goings-ons of mountain living and prairie-jumping later tonight--hope you had a lovely holiday. let's all get back in action, shall we? :D

oh, there's no "link to more" below...dunno how to get this darn thing to stop showing up when there's nothing. sorry.

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studio-warming par-tay!

my friend mike had a studio-warming party where he showed off his newest work that's going to NYC. I guess i'm trying to crawl into it here...click below for more photos...


friend susan at entry to friend mike's studio




i was fixated with this girl's dior bag and gold shoes

and then had to take photos of it with my crochet burberry scarf





old roommate from ages ago, phil

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better than the real thing...

Don'tcha think?

Katie F recently sent in the most amazing photos of her newly-finished Counterfeit Crochet Louis Vuitton Murakami, and I swear, if this doesn't just up the ante on this project! Check out the smiley-face flower details, and the gold "lock" made out of sequins! Not to mention the faux "studs" up the handles...Katie, you are definitely giving Mr. Vuitton a run for his money. Big props--you rock!!!







whew!

On another note, I am in the process of revamping the Counterfeit Crochet Project website to better feature and list the participants...visit here to see the beta version. It's made using Movable Type, and for the life of me I can't seem to figure out how to keep the right-hand column appearing in every page. As it exists right now, folks have to navigate to "back" or "Main" to get all the link options, and that's just not right. But I do like the way each participant has their own page. It's most certainly not complete yet, but if you have any comments/suggestions at this point, or want to see other types of info included, please let me know! I'll be trying to finish it all up when I get back from Colorado...

Thanks again to all who have participated and I can't wait to see what ya'll are up to :D

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a very brady trainwreck

Ooooooo, I so feel like dishing it out today...I just realized that there were nuptials between Adrianne Curry (America's Next Top Model season 1 winner) and the guy who played Peter Brady on the Brady Bunch (uh, what's his name? oh yeah, Christopher Knight) last month. All's I can say is "eeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"!

Yeah, maybe they're really really happy and the whole reality TV show they concocted--"My Fair Brady"--is a reflection of their deep love for one another. But man, that dude has had so much plastic surgery on his face that he sort of still looks like he's 12. Plus, poor Adrianne has really turned herself into a fame whore. Tyra Banks must be appalled, they sent home 20 other contestants for a gal who apparently is only modelling for Playboy these days. Yeesh. Adrianne, baby, I know you were scrappy and proud you came from a tough wrong-side-of-the-tracks background, but really...Pull yourself UP girl, not down! And to think I actually rooted for ya in season one.

Sigh.

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dying in a pyre of flaming hippies

Over a year ago my boyfriend's family started planning a big ole retreat where we all get together in some cabins up in the Colorado hills and spend family time together.

Kurt has three other brothers, most of them with kids (9 total, actually), and we all rarely get to see everyone at one time anymore. The area around Steamboat Springs, Colorado is supposed to be incredibly beautiful and a fab place to recreate.

Uh, nobody thought to check that the annual Rainbow Gathering is happening in the same area. Dude. Like, the RAINBOW GATHERING. Oh my. According to articles we're reading about in the paper, about 16,000 hippies will be caravanning it up there to have their annual festival this weekend and all through next week, right when we'll be there. And local folks are claiming it's a veritable tinder-keg, with lots of dry grasses and the potential for a mega hippie-fire disaster. I mean, think of all those joints being lit up, and all the stoned/blitzed-out hippies dropping matches all over the place, or the candle ceremonies at night...Being a San Francisco girl, I've seen (and even participated in) my share of Haight Street style hippie blissed-out slackerdom, but this sounds like a possible fiasco.

Yow. I'm actually a bit tickled that I can wander over during our stay to check out the hippie festivities (i'm a bit of a sucker for counterculture movements, even retro-nostalgic ones that need to perhaps evolve a bit), but this is starting to sound like it could have some very weird headlines.

If my epitaph says I died at the Rainbow Gathering, I will not be pleased! I mean, I know there's been a culural "hippie resurgance" lately, with young musicians and hipsters evoking the early 70s Manson-era hippiness (a bit darker than the 60s versions, fer sure). Just check out Mr. Devendra Banhart, who I've been told was in art school undergrad with me but I have absolutely no recollection of him whatsover.



Hippie is cool, hippie is in, especially for those who get to check it out via the 70s Fleetwood Mac album covers and are too young to remember anything from that era. I mean, Stevie Nicks was a total hottie, right? Who wouldn't want to run around singing "Gypsy" and twirling your scarves around your head.

Stevie in her glory days...

Something tells me that fashionable young hipsters won't be at the Rainbow Gathering, however, and that this it's gonna be the super hardcore hippie set who are in it FOR LIFE. Interesting.

Dying in a pyre of flaming hippies. Not looking forward to that.

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