'Cos We Want Sun Instead of Reagan

I'm a sucker for song covers. The English version of Joseph Beuys' 1982 "Sonne Statt Reagan" (which I linked to in a recent post) is performed by what appears to be an arty low-key performance art thingamajiggie and posted to YouTube. Pardon that they have no budget and singing talent. And there's only a very small audience in someone's apartment. I still like it. Go team.

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Free City

Interesting article found on today's online NY Times: Free City, an ecclectic store in LA that challenges traditional notions of retailing. Hmmmmm. I've never been there but it reminds me of a store I used to visit when I was a kid in Tokyo's Harajuku district called Octopus Army--it had tons of weird things, household goods, clothing, etc., not all of which made any sense together in any way but was a really neat grab-bag of goods. Or perhaps it's like the mega-trinket-knick-knack store Tokyu Hands?

Check out the link soon since the Times will put this sucker in the "archives" section in a week or so...and then it's not a free read.

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Street Signs and Solar Ovens: Socialcraft

Has anyone seen this LA show??? Please fill me in!

I may just have to go out to LA to catch this show before it disappears. Dude, there is really *something* going down here on the West Coast regarding active social issue attention in the artworld again. "Street Signs And Solar Ovens: Socialcraft in Los Angeles" looks amazing and is attempting to bridge what are usually gaps between "socially conscious living" and high and low art (since it includes LA art stars like Evan Holloway and Sam Durant as well as activist collectives, etc.). Curated by the same folks who put out the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, it looks totally rad! I especially like the new (to me) word "socialcraft".


Rick Guidice, Space Colonization Modules, 1975

And then to round up the West Coast roster, last night I went to the opening of the exhibition "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" curated by visiting Brit and general muckraker academic Will Bradley. I'm so happy my own school is hosting this exhibition. It was one of those nights were everyone was out in in full force: Ant Farm, Radical Software, Bonnie Sherk (founder of the urban oasis The Farm here in SF), and a few good friends were in the exhibition. Then we all went out for drinks at the local bar and had a blast!

Got to talk to legendary Ant Farm guy Chip Lord about what it's like to be having a "revival" of his videos and performances in the artworld 25 years later. Just what is it in the air that is making people look to the 60s and 70s for inspiration on how to "finish up" the business they started but left hanging? The idea of radical change got filtered into the hangover of the late 70s and gluttony of the 80s. Now all the neo-hippiness, open source information, and collectivity is coming back with a vengeance. What will happen this time around when it gets filtered through the generation that came AFTER Reagan and looks to the 60s and 70s for style--perhaps a reinterpreted substance? There seems to be a growing kinship but I hope it is effective and not just talk.


Bonnie Sherk, Crossroads Community (The Farm), 1974–81

Lastly, as part of the above show there was a piece called "c/o the Central Bank of Guatemala", which consisted of an actual Moniac a bizarre water pump device meant to demonstrate how economic systems work. Built by artist Michael Stevenson and calibrated to the economic conditions of Guatemala in 1953 (where it was last found), it is meant to be left unattended during the duration of the exhibition and fall apart, transforming into a state of ruin.

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extreme craft strikes again

I love Garth's blog Extreme Craft. It's a veritable treasure trove of the weird and wonderful that is the "peripheral" world of craft--the stuff that hangs on the margins, doesn't quite fit into the cutesy or Martha-esque world, and flirts dangerously with the world of "art", ha ha. Not only do I look to Garth to give me the rundown of all things extreme and craftastic, but he's also a swell and interesting guy as evidenced by his latest interview conducted by Supernaturale. Get yer ceramic freak on!

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ballsy

Artist Banksy is indeed ballsy--not just a graffiti person, he's done interventions at Disneyland and The Metropolitan Museum of Art that are amazing and documented on video, to boot! Watch as he brings Guantanamo prisoners to the Happiest Place on Earth, and adds to the great museum's collection...

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NYC recommendations?

So.

I feel a bit weird casting this question out to the etherworld that is the internet, but can anyone recommend a relatively affordable place to stay in NYC (manhattan) during this mid-December? I would assume this is a hard question to answer since generally it's an expensive city, but you never know! I'll be there from around December 13 until the 17th or 18th for my show at PS1 and dang if most of my friends will be either out of town (no couch surfing) or have moved away...Argh!

Some folks have mentioned that the YMCA is surprisingly affordable and OK (West Side one) but the reviews online are spotty and, uh, I'm not young enough anymore to tolerate too much yuckiness so maybe this won't fly for me? Or are any of you fun online friends of mine going to be out of town and need a nice housesitter/squatter/niceperson? :)

I need to book a place soon--help!

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==> small RESTOCK!

Hey folks--just put up four new items in the Anti-Factory online store! Yes, it's a small small small amount, but I'll be making more hopefully over the weekend. In the meantime, the early birds will get the worm since I'm not sending out an announcement for these few! Have a great feast day tomorrow and don't stress out too much ;)

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time's a-wasting!

ahhhhh! it's timecrunch time! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and i'm hurrying to finish up all sorts of things before the big holiday shuttdown. getting my video project ready to send off to PS1 next week and trying to wrangle through all sorts of FInalCutPro and DVD Studio Pro shenanigans...who would think that some DVDs will play in some machines and not in others...argh!

So this Thursday Kurt and I have invited both his folks and my folks to our house for the festivities. We thought it would be nice to take the pressure off of the parents this year (and seeing how they've been so great to be parental after all these years), but looking around we're realizing we're not quite set up for being "great entertainers". Who has 10 chairs lying around their house-eegads! We'll figure it out, I'm sure :)

On another note, here are some photos from my friends Amy and Jacopo's engagement brunch at their house a few weekends ago...Lots of old Stanford grad school friends showed up, along with Amy's experimental film friends (a few who were at Melinda's Farm party with us, too!). It was so fun and great to see everyone--met Julia and Tommy's new baby Sadie. Too cute! See photos here on flickr.




And Anti-Factory store, you are not forgotten! You have spilled slightly to the wayside these days due to unforseen busyness, but I will resuscitate you soon! Actually, I have a few items that I might try to put up in the store over the weekend (hint hint!).

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granddaddy poprock yeah!

Who knew that the granddaddy of contemporary sculpture, Joseph Beuys, decided to go pop and cut a single during the 80s,
"Sonne Statt Reagan".
Did someone say you can't dance to the revolution? They were obviously wrong...Dude. Check it.

And yeah, I'm on the Borat bandwagon. I can't WAIT to see the movie. Sorry Kazakhstan, I feel your pain. I am hurting as I cut and paste this image into my blog. And yet...I...can't...look...away...! Oh my god, the official homepage is brilliant--totally cheap-looking website with bad graphics galore.

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saturday funtimes

This Saturday I'm going to try to get myself down to see the SF Craft Mafia's trunk show at the "Craft Gym". Stats are below. I haven't met many of the mafia, except for Victoria E, who started it up, so I figure it may be good to support the local troops!




My old roommate Beej is having a 40th birthday party later that night (eegads!). Funny how time flies and all of a sudden everyone around you is the age you used to look at and go "gee, you're like, a ZILLION years old." Remember those times? Like, I think I was 12 or something and couldn't tell the difference between someone who was 30 years old or 50 years old. It was just...old. But hurray for today since 40 is the new 30, eh?

I've been sooo busy with things lately it's leaving me ragged again. Today I got up super early (for me) at 6:30 am to prep for a photoshoot on the streets of San Francisco for the next CRAFT magazine. Should be great! We spent about 3 1/2 hours with me modelling as a "high-end" lassie toting around counterfeit crochet handbags. I think the episode hits the stands in a month or two, so watch for it...

I'm also in the process of editing a three-channel video work for a show that opens up at PS1 in NYC on December 15. Time is indeed ticking away, and in order to get it all done I've been spending late nights at the video editing facilities at the college I teach at. It is such a damn sloooooow process, it's killing me! The final work is an updated version of a piece I did in 2005, "Body Double (Platoon)" and I'm pretty psyched since other two of the other artists in the show will be Yoko Ono and Tom Friedman. If you're in town during then (it's up for only a month, boo hoo: December 15 to about January 20, not sure exactly), stop by and get a gander of my world outside of this one.


From the "Dale Sko Hack," courtesy of Self Passage (http://www.selfpassage.org)

Oh and check this out: a totally awesome artsite devoted to projects related to fashion "hacking". Right up my alley and smart, to boot! Otto, if you are reading this for some reason, I will email you very very soon--I promise! You rock!

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Art vs. Craft: report from the conference

Thanks to Edgar (you great thing, you!) who pointed me in the direction of a blog entry on Artopia by John Perreault. A great first-person account of attending the American Craft Council's "Leadership Conference" in Houston recently, he reports back on the strange and unstable boundaries afflicting the art vs. craft conversation. I admit, I don't know much about the workings of the craft world, but thought it interesting of the inclusion of artworld figures such as Martin Puryear, James Elaine (curator of the Hammer Museum in LA) and others. I like Perrault's "I voice" and conversational manner in his observations.

==> Read "The Texas Cure" here. Share thoughts, if you wanna!

Snippet from his post:
"Why should anyone in the art world be interested in the craft world and its problems? Because, like it or not, the craft world is part of the art world. Take a look. Here and there, there are artists with craft roots showing in art world galleries: Betty Woodman (Protetch), Ken Price (Matthew Marks), Dale Chihuly (Marlborough), Josiah McElheney (Andrea Rosen) As in the '80s, there are art world artists appropriating craft world media and techniques: Kiki Smith, Charles LeDray, etc.

"Plus there is the great language problem, which is more than taxonomy. Language is philosophy. You cannot compare apples to fruit, but only apples to pears. Craft is a subdivision of Art. Economics, gender, class, use, and geography play roles, too.

"Also, I wanted to see if the craft world was as bad -- or as good -- as I remembered. I'm talking of high-end, handmade art that converges with painting and sculpture and is no better or worse than either -- at least in theory. My theory."

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what/why/how?

I'm reposting a little questionnaire that was emailed to me from a student doing a little article on handmade/deconstructed clothing, along with the answers I gave her. For those of you already familiar with the "why" behind anti-factory, it's nothing new, but thought it also condensed some info nicely...

1. What is your favorite type of clothing to reconstruct?
(i.e. sweatshirts, t-shirts, starting from scratch, etc.)

I work almost 90% of the time with tops--cotton jerseys, sweaters and sweatshirt fleece. Every now and then I venture into dresses or jackets. Stretchy fabrics are both easier to work with and fit more body types! As a rule, all my fabric is 100% recycled, which means the original garments come from thrift stores and if I use raw fabric it comes from factory overruns and "salvaged" manufacturing samples.

2. What is the most difficult thing you encounter as a seamstress?

The limitations of my sewing machine! I work with a Babylock serger and a Brother sewing machine, but would really die for an industrial machine so I could work on coats and heavier-weight materials.

3. What is your overall style when creating clothing? (Or, what are the techniques that you use most?)

I love messing with different colors and textures within a single garment. Wools, lightweight jerseys, and embellishments with buttons and small details. I try to make clothes that are both avant-garde yet wearable--a little "different" but not so far-out that you couldn't wear it every day. As for the actual construction end of it, I use my serger for 90% of the work. The sewing machine is used for topstitching and small details.

4. Why do you create your own clothing?

It started off as an experiment to see if I could hand-make every single item that I wore, to stop buying "products" and start being "self-sufficient". I am very fashion-conscious but was getting disturbed about the wastefulness of the garment industry (churning out masses of clothing every season) as well as the sad fact of unfair labor practices in the construction of clothing. For me it's a mix of small-time political action and even a form of emancipation from big industry.

5. Do you have any tips for beginners?

Buy lots of used clothing and cut them apart at the seams to see how they were either made or how the patterns were formed. Fail a lot--it's the only way to learn. I'm self-taught and there was a steep learning curve, but if you're persistent with trying to figure it out, it'll come faster.


** About the Trend**

1. Do you think there is growing trend of people purchasing reformed or handmade clothing? Do you have any examples of why or why not?

Yes, there seems to be quite a large trend right now--lots of online stores and DIY boutiques are springing up that feature handmade/reconstructed clothing. When I first started out, I worried that there wouldn't be a market for such things, but I've been proven quite wrong. A corporate example of the reconstructed "look" is what Urban Outfitters is doing with their Urban Renewal line. Also, the past few years has seen a large trend in what looks like handmade details in mass-produced clothing (hippie/boho/stitched details) and I think this has been embraced by the buying public.

The problem for me is that the "look" of handmade is being co-opted by big industry and sold for cut-rate prices. Sometimes customers have a hard time understanding that if something is unique or handmade it will cost more in order to keep the maker in business. Big companies can pay overseas workers much less and sell a similar item for half of what a local handmaker will charge.

2. Do you think more people are reconstructing/creating their own clothing? Why or why not? What evidence have you seen of this?

Yes. Magazines and online websites such as Crafster.org and Cut+Paste.com are very popular, as are people who are selling DIY/handmade clothes on ebay. There's a lot out there now. Overall it's a good thing people are so interested in making their own stuff.

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