craftivism.

Because craft + activism = craftivism.

Sjors Vervoort’s Cardboard Monsters, & a Roundup of Recent Craftivism Links

| Betsy

Thanks to the world of Twitter, I came across the amazing below (featuring the equally amazing work of Sjors Vervoort last night thanks to fellow DC dweller @MosesHawk (go check out his work over here)


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Oh, and I’ve been woefully behind on keeping up to date here with craftivism-related links. No more, however, as there’s SO MUCH awesomeness out there to share with you!!

RECENT CRAFTIVISM-RELATED LINKS:
*Craftivism and Mobility
*Craftivism: Art With Attitude
*Juxtaposition and Craftivism
*Oya: Selbermachen- Aber wie
*Craftivism: Syjunta Med SMS-Broderi
*Craftivism for Feminists (And Mentalists)
*Fashion-able: Hacktivism and Engaged Fashion Design
*Craftivist Collective’s Report From Climate Rush Railway Adventure
*Craftivism: Making a Difference With Art (Plus, The Corsage Project!)
*Take Back the Knit: Urban Crafting Weaves “Women’s Work” Into Protest

RECENT RANDOMLY AWESOME LINKS:
*The Cult of Done Manifesto
*That Can Be My Next Tweet
*The Cult of Done Manifesto
*Avoid Idea Plateaus With a Plan
*What Lucky People Do Different
*Oconoplastic Fruit (Exploring the Relationship Between “Early Breast Cancer and the Oconoplastic Surgeon!!”

Giving Permission

| Betsy

As kids in school, we had to ask permission to do much of anything. We had to get a hall pass to do anything autonomous like go to the bathroom or the water fountain. We had to procure that pass and risk asking for it first.

As adults we think we don’t need permission, but often still let others dictate our actions. Should I do this, say this, wear this, make this? Is this a good idea? We wade in this murky no (wo)man’s land between giving ourselves permission and asking others for it.

But as crafters, artists and makers, it’s part of our job (whether we get paid for it or not) to help others to not only attain that permission, but also to break free of having to always seek it.

By daring to act on how we feel and summoning the energy, bravery, spirit to create something, we are reinforcing to others that it’s okay to step forth and make something new, whether it’s novel, popular or just plain out there. Because the “out there” that we fear we’re going to hit is only of our own devising anyway. We tell ourselves that it’s a bad idea, it’s been done before, or that it’s outside of our realm of expertise and take that permission away ourselves all too often in the second we think about seeking approval from others, whether or not they’re like-minded.

It’s our job to step forwards and make want we want to, as not only then do we free ourselves of asking the permission of others, but in the very same action, we free others to stop asking for it, too. That blip of creativity that we’re expending outwards (and very often soaking in inwards) is a welcome sign to others that it’s safe, it’s okay and it’s just plain fun to go ahead and make.

In London this week? You can start bucking off that permission askin’ by checking out It’s Your Write! A Celebration of the Self-Published this Thursday night at the Museum of Childhood from 6-9pm!

Engage in workshops, join in panel discussions, watch performances, and browse over 20 stalls from independent creators to the beat of a live music backdrop from Noah and The Whale’s Indie label ‘The Young and Lost Club’, who will bring new bands such as Planet Earth. Nick Hornby’s Ministry of Stories will kick off the night with a collaborative writing workshop, and you can make badges and banners thanks to The Craftivist Collective and Craft Guerrilla’s Zeena Shah. Be inspired by folk champion Sam Lee as he sheds light on the rich political history of Romany Gypsy and Traveller music, write that letter you haven’t had time for at the aptly named Letter Lounge, or find out how to make a ‘zine’ worth reading thanks to self-publishing collective, The Alternative Press.




Now step up and get makin’!



Why To Pay Attention, via War Boutique and Carrie Reichardt

| Betsy

Last December when I was at Carrie Reichardt’s (amazing) house* in London, she showed me some of the pieces of work she had by her friend War Boutique. I was amazed at the way he incorporated his knowledge learned from creating “armour systems for the government,” into his art practice using, as he notes in the video below, Kevlar, ballistic nylon, chain mail, stab vests. There’s more about the origin of his work here.

While you should watch the whole video, as it’s brilliant, one thing he says spoke out to me the most, “In today’s society, there’s so much wrong with society, to me, that’s the role of the artist… to try and keep that highlighted and not let it drift away and become yesterday’s news.”

It’s our (whether you call yourself an artist, crafter or maker) role to make sure people pay attention. Our (collective!) role.

War Boutique Artist Profile from Alex Buckley on Vimeo.



And speaking of Carrie, she currently has a show up at Ink’d in Brighton until April 10, which you can read a review of over at Spindle. The show is called Mad in England, a show about which the Ink’d website notes (click text to read more):

UK renegade potter and leading anarchist Carrie Reichardt will be bringing an eccentric twist to all things British at Ink_d Gallery. As we built up towards the media mania of The Royal Wedding Reichardt has decided she just can’t take it anymore – and this show represents the Great British Empire as ‘Cruel Britannia’ through her unique anarchic vision.”

If you can’t get to the show, you can still own a bit of “Mad in England!”I recently received my specially made mug for the Kate n Wills Royal wedding next month in the mail that Carrie created for the occasion. While it does contain a 4-letter word not suitable for the kitchens of some, it looks quite proper sitting on my kitchen shelf.



*Seriously her house is amazing. They did a 4-page spread on it in The Guardian last year. See the original Guardian article here, and complete with photos over here. (And yes, there is a little blurb about Garth Johnson, Craftivist Collective and I down at the bottom of the article. Way to go, eagle eye!



It’s a Railway Adventure!

| Betsy

And who doesn’t like adventure?!

From Sarah over at Craftivist Collective:

Craftivists hold protest stitch-ins at railway stations across the UK- please support them! :)

At 1pm on Saturday 10th April craftivists across the UK will join a nationwide protest to demand a halt to rail fare increases. Currently the coalition Government plans to hike fares by 31% over the next 4 years. This is a huge issue and the Craftivist Collective would love you to support them.

The Craftivist Collective are supporting Climate Rush on the Railway Adventures campaign. Hundreds of craftivists (activists who protest using scissors, thread and fabric) will converge on railway stations across the UK for a super cute kitsch protest picnic and stitch-in. They will be creating 4inch deep x 7inches wide fabric train coaches covered with statistics, facts, quotes and consumer views on our Government’s carbon-friendly transport policy, whilst drinking tea, eating jam sandwiches and talking about the issues. The various panels will be collated into a petition-train which will be taken on a Fair Fare Railway Adventure on Saturday 16th April. It will be delivered to Philip Hammond MP (Minister for Transport) by direct action group: Climate Rush.

So far we have craftivists coordinating stitch-ins in
Brighton, Hastings, Coventry , Birmingham, Dorset,Leeds, Bristol, London, Manchester, Devon andCornwall.
If you want to do coordinate a stitch-in near you please email craftivist-collective [at] hotmail dot com

Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport, said:
“Whether we like it or not, the ability to travel point-to-point on an individually-tailored timetable [i.e. in a car] is one of the great quality-of-life gains of the second half of the 20th century.”

Sarah Corbett, Founder of the Craftivist Collective, said:
“As the Craftivist Collective we are passionate about showing our love for local and global neighbours. These unfair fare increases will stop people using trains when we need help keeping our carbon footprints down. The increases will hit people living in poverty the most and stop them getting to their jobs and alienate them even more from society.

“Short-haul flights and cars shouldn’t be the cheapest most convenient option. Philip Hammond MP wants to hike fairs a massive 31% over the term of this Government. We’re here to demand fair fares and a sustainable alternative.”

On Saturday 16th April Craftivists with join Climate Rush on a Railway Adventure. For more information please visit: Railway Adventure.

Extra/Ordinary is Here!

| Betsy

One of the most beautiful and delightful things about being involved with craft is that I have had the incredible luck to work with some amazingly talented people along the way. The recent release of Extra/Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art (cover below), edited by Maria Elena Buszek is no exception!

[featuring Marianne Jørgensen’s Pink M .24 Chaffee on the cover!]

The super special thing about this book (to me!) is that there is a CRAFTIVISM SECTION! A whole section, mercy me!! Not only is there a separate section, but it includes some brilliant essays: “Rebellious Doilies and Subversive Stitches: Writing a Craftivist History” by Kirsty Robertson, “Craft Hard Die Free: Radical Curatorial Strategies for Craftivism by Nicole Burisch and Anthea Black and “Loving Attention: An Outburst of Craft in Contemporary Art” by Janis Jefferies! Yeah!

If you ever want to learn about the long true beginning of craftivism, I knock it all out in an essay called “Craftivist History.” While the history of craftivism is not about me (don’t be silly!), it’s about what happens when you’re attributed to coining, fostering or publicizing a word that no one has ever heard of. Not to mention a word they’re not sure how to spell, pronounce or define. If anything, I’m a custodian of the word, so eloquently put in Greek here as the “godmother of craftivism.” As even though I don’t have a wand or can fly or even have a fancy, willowy dress, I am glad that there were some people out there who got sprinkled with a bit of ‘craftivism dust’ and agreed with me. To be added in such a book, with such astoundingly talented academics in a separate section is just mind-blowingly rad, it’s words like theirs and yours that constantly astound me every day, it’s such a beautiful things!

Speaking of beautiful things, here’s a beautiful documentary of the making of the Pink M .24 Chaffee, also featured on Marianne’s website, with the words below:

The pink covering consists of more than a 4000 pink squares- 15 x 15 centimetres – knitted by volunteers from Denmark, the UK , USA and several other countries. People were invited through Cast Off Knitting Club, from friend to friend either by word of mouth or over the internet, and by a number of knitting groups made for this specific project, or other already existing knitting groups.. The physical and personal acknowledgement in all of these knitted patches are, when joined together, a powerful visualization of thoughtfulness. The main impression of the knitted tank is that it consists of hundreds of patches knitted by many different people in different ways: single colored, stripes with bows or hearts, loosely knitted, closely knitted, various knitted patterns, … They represent a common acknowledgement of a resistance to the war in Iraq.

Between the 7th – 11th April, 2006, the tank was placed in front of the Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in the heart of Copenhagen. There were 4-5 permanent volunteers sewing the squares together to cover the tank and many of the people that passed by also helped sew and crochet the pieces together.

Along with the essays mentioned above, the book also includes work by M. Anna Fariello, Dennis Stevens, Louise Mazanti, Paula Owen, Karin E. Peterson, Elissa Author, Betty Bright, Jo Dahn, Lacey Jane Roberts, Andrew Jackson and Maria Elena Buszek!

**The book holds a special special joy for me, as many years ago, Maria, Dennis Stevens, Garth Johnson and Tsia Carson and I started some amazingly powerful email conversations on craft. We dubbed ourselves the Craft Lab. Those conversations fueled me at a time when I was really needing it, and for that, I can never thank my Craft Lab co-conspirators enough! I love you kids and miss our conversations!**