RADICALCROSSSTITCH

The Great Xtreme Destash

With an expanding family it was time to make some tough decisions about space in our house. I made the big call and offered to hand over my craft room to be the new guest room. Then the existing guest room (which adjoins Tara’s room) can become Tara’s new big girls room.

It was a tough call to make. But when I looked at it from an efficiency perspective it was quite obvious. I don’t actually craft in there very often. I was limited to being in there when Tara was asleep otherwise a) I couldn’t watch her or b) she’d tear the room apart. So I really wasn’t in there much. And it was turning into a giant hoard room. Hardly practising what I preach when it comes to sustainable crafting.

So I decided to set myself a challenge to consolidate the room to one filing cabinet and one tall set of shelves. I’m only allowed to keep what will fit in there. This means getting rid of a heap of stuff.

Readers might remember last year Cate from Polka Dot Rabbit started the Buy Nothing Craft Month. It completely changed my crafting. Rather than buying piles of crap because I might make something out of it one day. I stopped buying and started making. It did truly radical things to my output and my savings! Other than embroidery floss and sometimes aida fabric I’ve pretty much stopped buying stuff. But I got given a fair bit so the stash wasn’t going down too far.

But now I’m getting serious!

My mission is to make, give away, or sell as much out of that room as I can over the next couple of months. And I’m gonna share the results. But to add a bit of a challenge I’m going to try not to throw any of it away. So I’m trying to find uses for all the scraps too. Given the massive environmental impacts of the textiles industry, I believe we’re obliged to at least try to find uses for our scraps. And given the resources out there, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

A little while ago a friend gave me the book Generation T – 108 ways to transform a t-shirt (warning – last time I opened their website there was a blimmin loud auto play video on it that started with an ad. I’d mute before clicking..). It’s a fantastic resource and filled with heaps of ideas on how to reuse fabric. While most of the projects do rely on t-shirts in an existing form, a fair few of them don’t. And a bunch of them don’t even need t-shirt fabric.

I’ve been inspired by a couple of projects. Firstly there’s a great tutorial on how to make an ‘it’ doll. A nice wee baby friendly gender-neutral soft doll. Given how livid the mainstream toy industry makes me, I thought it made perfect sense to get organised and make my own. Now I have a stash of future presents and stall items for markets!

The first bunch I made I used some terry towling I had lying around.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t actually intending to make aliens.  It was just a fluke I picked the green fabric.  And it wasn’t until I finished them I had that ‘would you look at that’ moment.  I gave one to the neighbours wee boy and he loves chewing on it.  The best things about them is that they can be thrown in the washing machine if they get dirty – perfect baby toys!

I decided to have another go making them but with a bit of variation.

I call these ones ‘little hugs’.  Gave them extra long arms so they can give their friends lots of big cuddles.  And I gave them faces; stitched on, so there’s no dangerous fally off choky bits.

I’m quite proud of them, they look really cool!  And were nice and easy to make.  I think all up it took me about three hours to make four of them at a time.  Can’t wait to give them to some certain little people…

Next up is still a WIP.  But I decided to get into my scraps bag and make something fun with all the crazy unmatched scraps in there.  Another project in the Generation T book is a couple of great patterns for rugs.  I decided to make a braided one as a new mat for our toilet.  Our existing one is pretty damn ugly.  And it’s a room in our house that needs more craft in it!

All you have to do is cut your fabric into strips, stitch the strips together (I used a zig zag stitch on the sewing machine but you can hand stitch it no problems), braid three lengths together and then using a running stitch/whip stitch, stitch the braid on the under side into a spiral.  It’s a bit slow to do but it looks cool!  And a great way to use a heap of fabric.  I started with three lengths about 3 metres long and I’ve got a rug about 30cm wide.  I need to add another couple of metres worth I reckon, to make it big enough for a loo mat.

This last shot shows the underside.  The red thread is my running stitch holding it together.

This is a great project for using very different types of fabric since they get mixed up so nicely.  I used everything from nice japanese cottons to upholstery fabric selvedge.  It’s a fun way to remember all your past projects!  Will post a pic when it’s finished.

My craft room is also supplying all the resources I need for the Interventionist Guide.  Other than a roll of gutter guard I picked up from an op shop.  Everything in the show is coming out of my stash.

I’m also planning to sell a few things.  Mostly things I know other people could really appreciate that I’m simply not appreciating enough.  All in the Radical Rags store and living in the vintage supplies section.  Yesterday I listed a couple of Golden Hands books.  They’re in excellent condition.  Don’t think the original owner ever used them.  And I haven’t either..  I’ve got a few of them to list yet so if you’re a collector and have a hole in your collection, let me know and I’ll let you know if I’ve got it.

So it’s a blimmin big mission but one I’m determined to complete.  Stay tuned for updates.

In the meantime I have to share this pic of Tara.  I so wish I was as cool as her

Back from Craftwerk 2.0

Some pics from Craftwerk 2.0, the exhibition in Jönköping, Sweden, where Kakariki and I participate. The exhibition was amazing and I could not stop smiling as I walked through. Lovely to see all these things that I’ve seen only on pictures in real life. Anyone near Jönköping should go see it, not to mention all the workshops and lectures they’ll be having during the fall and winter. The exhibition runs from September 19 until January 17 2010.

(I was all nerves and excitement, so I had some problems focusing on taking pictures, but at least some of them turned out ok.)

And a clip from local news programme Smålandsnytt (in Swedish).

Thinking about street art

The upcoming Interventionist Guide to Melbourne show has given me plenty of time to think about the role artists play in our society and how much art is constrained by our economic system.

Any artist that spends more than five minutes thinking about the world around them will be aware of the effect gentrification has on their lives.  But it seems very few really understand how it works.  I see far too much art around me – especially street art – that plays into the hands of the gentrifiers.

I was gonna write a big rant on this but instead I URGE you to download and listen to this episode from the Renegade Economists instead.  It sums up so brilliantly the economics behind why artsists are just pawns in the speculators profit game.

What really frustrates me is when I see really brilliant creative minds who go cap in hand to the land lords asking for good deals on rent for creative spaces when really it should be the other way around.  Especially if you think about how much value artists contribute to communities.  Or arguably even worse is when artists set themselves the task of ‘prettying up’ a decaying suburb.  Rather than questioning why there’s row after row of boarded up shops, they just go and paint pictures on them.  The owners freakin love it, I assure you.

There are countless examples of how artists move into a run down area, get cheap rent, make the place awesome and desirable and then get priced out of the area when the speculators cash in on their efforts.

The question I have to ask is, as artists when are we going to educate ourselves on these issues and collectively stand up against it?

Rent is one of the reasons we started the Craft Cartel.  We wanted to create a market space for crafters who were doing truly interesting things.  It was apparent to us that so many crafters were making stuff that was palatable for the retail sphere not out of desire but out of need.  There’s no point making stuff unless you know for sure someone is going to buy it, especially if your craft is a major source of income.  And if you want to sell your stuff in shops the pressure is even greater as the shop owners have such massive overheads.  Especially rent.

So we made a real concerted effort to have super low stall fees at our markets because we wanted people to be able to have a space to bring the really crazy stuff.  The political stuff, the kooky stuff and the stuff that really makes you squirm..

It’s very much a labour of love for us.  The stall fees went to covering the costs of the market but didn’t go near covering our costs to organise and promote.  But the payment was in the fantastic community that arose out of it.  We had sellers say to us that they loved coming to our markets, not to make money but to have a great time!  So as far as we were concerned, it was a raving success.

So it really gets me going when I know that crafters are busting their asses to make sustainable, interesting, awesome things and there’s so many people out there sitting around trying to figure out how to make money off them.  Be it stupidly expensive markets, yet another bloody internet marketplace or (what really makes my skin crawl) advertising space – we even rip each other off!

It is the monopoly capitalist system that makes it so hard for makers.  Yet it’s so rare that we sit down AS MAKERS and use our creative skills to come up with new ways of doing things.

But sometimes people do. And I want to pay massive respects to those people.

If you want some inspiration or some more info I recommend you check out some of these resources:

• Community Land Trusts – a bloody good working example of reformed local economics
• I Want To Live Here – Born to Rent – win $3000 by making a short film about gentrification. And there’s some good writing about gentrification on that site. Especially check out the blog.
• The Antagonist Movement – just discovered this NY crew and LOVE!  Actually gives me a reason to want to visit that fine city..  What really pressed my buttons was this short doco I found on Wooster Collective. It’s brilliant.  Watch.

The Antagonist Art Movement – For Dummies from Anthony Ferraro on Vimeo.

Stitching some Urban Fabric

Spent today in the city doing some final preparations for the Interventionist Guide.  Aside from the wind, it was one of the most fun days I have had in a very long time!  I am SO looking forward to the show opening so the play can REALLY begin!

Put it in your diaries people! Friday October 2nd, 5pm, Platform Gallery, Flinders Subway, Melbourne.

Also, I look this pregnant now

Oh OK then

I didn’t post a picture of the piece going into the Explosive Expression show ’cause it’s not framed yet and photographing two different shiny materials is really freakin hard.  But I just pulled these off the camera and they’re not too bad.

It was stitched with silver metallic embroidery thread on black satin and is very shiny!

I really don’t think I was able to capture the true look of it with these shots but you do get the idea.  Hopefully once it’s framed and up nice on a wall there’ll be better ones to share with you all.

This was definitely a patience tester to stitch up as metallic thread is SUPER fragile.  I think I threw away as much as I used due to all the broken bits.  But the overall effect is very much worth the effort.  I hope they can show the piece under lots of bright lights so it’s extra super duper shiny!

Extra special thanks to Groundswell Collective for providing the original image and the inspiration!

Not one, but three (and a half..)

It’s been a bit quiet on the ol’ RCS blog as of late.  Partly due to the never ending joys of pregnancy (promise not to bore you with the details..) but also partly due to the busyness of preparing for some upcoming exhibitions.  And it’s about time our lovely readers got to hear the details!

Firstly, opening next week in Jönköpings, Sweden, is “Craftwerk 2.0: New Household Tactics for the Popular Crafts”.

Craftwerk 2.0 is an exhibition that explores the new “updated” textile crafts that are developed by a new generation of serious amateurs, innovative craftsmen, engaged entrepreneurs and political practitioners.

This is one of the biggest craft exhibitions on the calendar this year and the RCS crew is most excited to be a part of it! Both I and the Ninja have pieces in the show including ‘Oh Sorry, was that your land?’, ‘Homes for All’, Mario map, and an as yet unseen series of QR codes.  There’s some really interesting events running with the show and I urge anyone anywhere near Sweden to put this show in your diary!  The exhibition runs from September 19 until January 16 2010.

The next exhibition on the agenda is Explosive Expression, an Art Auction and Exhibition in commemoration of the second anniversary of the State Terror Raids in New Zealand of October 15th, 2007.  For more info on the Exhibition and the Auction (online bids are welcome for those not able to be in Wellington) check out the website and the Facebook event.

I was most honoured to be asked to contribute to this show.  As readers will probably know, I am friends with a number of the defendants so have paid close attention to the developments of the cases.  But aside from that I am appalled at the massive amounts of money being spent by the NZ counter terrorism unit investigating activists.  As the Greens warned when this legislation was first introduced, it’s about giving massive powers to Police which encroach on civil liberties.  And they warned from day one, due to the complete lack of domestic terrorism the legislation would inevitably be used to monitor and stifle dissent.

Whether or not the defendants are found guilty on the charges they all face is quite irrelevant to the overall issue that the Police spent over $10million investigating, using intensely intrusive surveillance techniques, a significant proportion of the NZ activist community in the name of counter-terrorism.   They executed warrants on homes across the country and literally terrorised entire communities and homes containing small children.

The small group of people now facing relatively minor charges in comparison to the hype created around the initial raids now have to face the ‘justice’ system and receive a fair trial.  To do this they need massive contributions towards their defence.  Not just to cover the legal costs but also the costs of travel for the defendants and their families every time they need to be in court.

I urge anyone out there with an interest in collecting art, particularly political art to check out the works on the website and consider making a bid.  Especially those of you in countries with strong currencies!  The NZ Dollar is buying about 70 US cents at the mo’ so money coming in from overseas will go further

The piece I have contributed is called ‘Security Glam’ and is based on this image that came out of a collaboration between our friends at the Groundswell Collective and Artists at War

I will post an image of the completed piece once it’s on the Oct 15th Solidarity site.

Thirdly, I was asked a while back to participate in a Melbourne show (finally!!) and there was no way I was going to say no to this one!  Curated by the super inspiring Lynda Roberts from Public Assembly, the Interventionist Guide to Melbourne is a group show of work by artists who focus their work in engaging with the urban fabric.

The show is both gallery and street based with the Platform Gallery being transformed into a virtual map of Melbourne revealing sites for individuals and groups to creatively and temporarily intervene within the existing urban fabric.

Each artist will contribute work in various mediums but each will be editing a zine guide as to how to go out and ‘do’ their form of intervention.  The works will inspire members of the public to go out and do their own interventions which can be documented and will add to the show.

My work is very much focussed around challenging notions of space, particularly around issues of ownership, construction and access.  I’ll be sharing the skills for three types of craft based intervention and am pleased to say none of it involves yarn bombing..

The opening is on October the 2nd at Platform (FB event here) and continues until the 30th.  Contributing artists will also be out on the street on Oct 16-18 intervening! Keep an eye on the website for more details.

Finally – and this is the half – I’ve been working on a page for the 2010 3CR Calendar.  It’s one of the major fundraising activities for Melbourne’s best grassroots community, activist radio station.  And I was super honoured to be asked to contribute.  So it’s not really an exhibition as such, but a group show appearing on a wall near you!  I understand the calendar is about to go to the printers and I think the launch is in November some time.  Will let you know details when I know them.

The piece I contributed is an antique inspired sampler with an anti-consumerist theme.  Reckon you old skool cross stitchers out there will love it.  I’m also going to release the pattern as a fundraiser for 3CR, it’ll be available in the Radical Rags store sometime later this year.

So I reckon there’s been about 80,000 or so stitches over the last few months which hopefully explains the lack of blog words! I’ll update this site over the next few weeks with more images and details as they come to hand.

Thanks for stopping in to make sure we’re still here

xox